


The End Times

by SunlightOnTheWater



Series: The Redemption Arc [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angel Dean Winchester, Angel Sam Winchester, Chuck as God, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-10
Updated: 2014-04-21
Packaged: 2018-01-11 20:56:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 28,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1177836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunlightOnTheWater/pseuds/SunlightOnTheWater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world is falling to pieces. Lucifer is free, Castiel is dead, and the newly reinstated archangel Gabriel is on the run from Heaven and Hell along with his allies. In a desperate bid to stop Lucifer from destroying the world, Gabriel begins to search for Michael but time is running out to find a missing archangel who doesn't want to be found.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> And here we go again; off on another adventure! And hold on to your seats people because this is looking to become on heck of a ride before we get to the end of it.

_"Demons run when a good man goes to war. Night will fall and drown the sun when a good man goes to war. Friendship dies and true love lies, night will fall and the dark will rise when a good man goes to war."-River Song, Doctor Who (A Good Man Goes to War)_

Chuck Shurley was a mousy looking man on the outside. He had a scruffy looking beard and matching spiky brown hair. His living room was a mess of beer bottles and scattered pieces of paper from his most recent _Supernatural_ novel and the rest of the house wasn't in much better shape. Chuck had always been different. Even as a young child he had always been too wise for his own good and by the time he had reached college age that wisdom had driven him to drink. At least that was what was written in his self-published blog as a brief history of author Carver Edlund. In truth, Chuck was much, much more than he appeared.

Chuck had existed long before the earth had taken shape and he would continue to exist long after the earth ceased to spin on. Years ago he had left his home and decided to wander to earth. What he hadn't known was that his walkabout would have led to this much chaos. Now his wayward child was out of Hell and wandering around wreaking destruction on his creations. Meanwhile another of his children, this one very near breaking, was trying to keep himself together to help. Another had been brutally murdered after failing to prevent what he'd set out to stop, leaving his brothers lost in his wake.

Chuck knew he couldn't simply step in and fix all this. If he did his children would never learn to solve their problems on their own. They would always be little children running to Daddy with their injustices. He could, however, help them along. It would have to be subtle enough not to make it seem as if he were playing favorites but unexpected enough that none of his children would mistake it for anything but Him. 

With a snap of his fingers, Chuck cleaned up his living room and walked casually over to his computer. Opening his most recent word document, the being studied what he had last written and began to smile. It was time to write a new future, one that slowly allowed him back in. Chuck was not pleased about the way his children were running this planet and it was time that they knew it.

\---

There was a man standing behind a counter at a local bar somewhere in Illinois. He wasn't particularly distinctive. He was of average height and muscle tone with curly light brown hair and an almost forgettable face. His only distinguishing feature was his brilliant blue eyes. They were the kind of eyes you didn't forget. They prevented any late night drunken fights from breaking out, stopped would be robbers in their tracks, and yet still managed to put the clientele at ease.

He hadn't been at this town long; only a couple months. It was his habit never to stay in one place for too long. He had left home forty years ago, even though he didn't look a day over twenty-five, and he had no desire to return and cater to his petulant siblings whims. He had kept an eye on recent events but had refrained from becoming involved, trusting his siblings to do what was right. Instead of what should have transpired he had been abruptly wakened two nights ago with the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong.

Once, a long time ago when he had been much younger and more naïve, he had blindly believed his younger brothers to be well intentioned and steadfast. Then two brothers had rebelled against everything he knew to be true and that belief had been shattered. Things had continued to fall apart when his father had left with no forwarding address and no estimated return time. One younger brother had been apocalypse ready and he had been ready to go along with it until he had realized this wasn't what his father had intended. Then he had left his home behind in the hope that the plans of world ending would cease. Instead it seemed that they had come to fruition.

He wasn't entirely certain what he was meant to do next. He did not want to be forced to kill at least one of his siblings but he would if it would save his father's most precious creation. For the time being he would wait; bide his time and see if time alone had changed one brother as it seemed to have changed the other. If Lucifer persisted in his stubborn, selfish way he would step forth and stop his younger brother. If he had changed then Michael would remain exactly as he had been, leaving space for his brother to return home.


	2. Futile Searching

They had split up four days ago, against Samael's expressed wishes, to search for any sign of Michael. Alastair and Meg were currently acting as messengers between the three brothers. That was why Dumah was currently sitting in a truck stop next to Meg. "Any luck?" the demon asked, eyes focused straight ahead. Fanatic Lucifer supporters had been crawling out of the demonic woodwork and it wouldn't do for Meg to be seen talking to an angel. Alastair was a bit of a different story but he mostly stuck to talking with Sam.

"None. There isn't a sign of him from here to the coast," the angel grumbled, shooting an annoyed glare at a grubby New Yorker that shoved by him. "This trip has been about as useful as a dog chasing its own tail. How are the others doing?"

"As far as I know Gabriel hasn't had any more luck," the demon replied, running a hand through her short blonde hair. "Bobby's searching for any odd phenomenon but your head archangel seems to have been keeping his head down even recently."

"What about Sam? How's he holding up?"

"I don't know," Meg admitted frankly, turning black eyes to look the angel head on as she stood. "Alastair's been the one in contact with him." Dumah swore under his breath but there was nothing more he could do besides watch Meg saunter away through the crowd at the bus stop.

\---

"This sucks," the archangel Gabriel grumbled, stomping through a muddy field. A damp cow somewhere to his left mooed curiously and he shot a dark glare at the offending animal. "Oh shut up! It isn't as if you've been any help." Gabriel had been searching Iowa for a week, scanning the countryside for any sign of his wayward big brother. Before Lucifer had been set free from the pit by the demon Ruby, his older brother Raphael had caught Dean and Sam to inform them that Michael had left Heaven. Then Lucifer had been released and the vague idea of seeking out Michael had become an imperative. So far though they'd had no luck.

Part of Gabriel wanted desperately to call the whole idea off, say they'd come up with something better, and see his brothers again. The rest of him that knew that he couldn't just give up. There was no other way besides Michael to stop Lucifer from throwing his temper tantrum and destroying the entire world. Daddy wasn't going to come back and patch everything up this time. They were grown and it was there job to fix this if they could and die trying if they couldn't. 

Alastair was waiting for him at the fence, leaning as casually there as if he were modelling for a catalog. "News?" the demon inquired, eyes undeniably demon white.

"Cows are stupid," Gabriel shot back and got a dry smirk in return. 

"Noted," the demon said in a calm monotone. "Anything else?" 

Gabriel was an archangel and, as such, could have smote the obnoxious demon at any moment but he refrained from doing so for two reasons. The first was that, despite being an annoying bastard, he found himself actually having some fondness for the demon's since of dry humor. The second reason was that Alastair was working beyond all natural order to protect Sam. Gabriel's little brother may have been an archangel but it had been a long, long time since Samael had wielded his full powers and with Lucifer chasing after him with murderous intent the younger archangel daren't use any of them. "Nothing," he replied. "I'm switching states." He hesitated a moment and then asked, "Is Sam okay?"

"As well as can be expected," Alastair replied, face uncharacteristically solemn. "Lucifer haunts his mind whenever he rests but he is holding on."

"Keep him alive," Gabriel ordered and then, with a powerful flap of his wings, he was gone.

\---

_Anna was lying next to him. He could feel the tickle of her red hair, the puff of her breath against the back of his neck, the smoothness of delicate fingers brushing through his hair. Sam wanted it to be true so badly that it became hard to breathe through the lump in his throat and his eyes stung with tears but he refused to buy into the lie. Instead he sat up and pulled away from her. He hesitated for a moment, stood, and then turned to glare darkly at Anna's still form. "I'm not playing Lucifer."_

_Anna sat up and slowly her features shifted to blonde hair, a masculine figure, and lips pulled up in a wide smirk. "Hello Samael. So nice to talk to you again."_

_"What do you want?" he spat._

_"Just to know where you are at," Lucifer crooned. "I want my little brother back. What is so wrong with that?"_

_"You want to kill me," Sam retorted._

_"And Michael doesn't?" Lucifer replied smoothly. "At least I'm honest about it." Sam wanted to have some kind of retort on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't. Instead he wrenched himself forward, out of sleep by sheer force of will and into the harsh light of day._

"Another nightmare?" Sam groaned and rolled out of the lumpy twin hotel bed to glare blearily at Alastair. "Lucifer then," the demon said, undeterred. 

"Yes," Sam growled out. "Do you need something?"

"Just checking on your relative health and sanity," the demon shot back.

"Well don't," Sam replied darkly, turning to leave as if that were the end of the conversation. It wasn't. 

A hand wrapped around his bicep, tight enough to bruise, and spun him, slamming him into a wall. Alastair's free hand slid up to wrap tight around Sam's throat, keeping him pinned. "Listen to me very carefully," the demon hissed, face inches from the former archangel's. "You owe me a debt and that means I am not going to leave you alone until that debt is repaid. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Sam croaked out. "I understand."

"Good," the demon said, stepping back and setting Samael free. "Now go get cleaned up. You have some searching to do."

"Any of the others having any luck?" he asked. 

"None," came the calm reply as Sam headed for the bathroom. "Now get a move on. I informed big brother this morning that we're heading for Illinois." Sam raised his hand as if to flip the demon off, thought better of it, and slammed the bathroom door instead. Alastair just smirked at the closed door, shaking his head. Even with Lucifer haunting his every step Sam was still hanging on.


	3. The Girl with the Curls

Minnesota wasn't any better than Iowa, just marginally colder. That meant that instead of standing in a muddy field Gabriel was sitting in an orange crème colored diner waiting for service. Waitresses in orange and white checked dresses, the same shade of orange as the wall, bustled by him with white pads of paper. Finally one with blonde curls sauntered over and smiled at him. "Hello and welcome to Anne's Diner. My name is Jessica and I'll be your server this afternoon. Do you know what you want or do you need another minute?"

"What I would like," Gabriel said, not bothering to glance up from the menu in his hands, "is to know why a demon is working in a restaurant when the apocalypse is nigh."

"It pays the bills," Jessica replied impatiently. "Now what can I get you?"

"Give me a couple minutes," Gabriel returned. "My brother is joining me." Jessica nodded sharply and clicked off to help some other patrons. Gabriel turned back to the menu only to have a rustle of wings. He glanced up to see Balthazar sitting across from him.

"What do you want?"

"I like the British accent," Gabriel said, turning back to the menu.

"What do you want?" Balthazar repeated sharply.

"Can I take your order now?" Jessica asked, her sharp voice cutting through their conversation.

"Of course darling," Gabriel said even as the other angel startled across from him. "I'll have the ham sandwich and a coffee. Also if you have anything alcoholic for my friend here it would be helpful. He's going to need it."

"I can imagine," Jessica said with cold eyes and an arch of her eyebrows. "Putting up with you all the time must be terribly difficult." Then she snatched the menu from his hand and stalked off.

"Dare I ask what is going on there?" Balthazar questioned. Gabriel just smirked and turned his attention toward his reason for being here. Balthazar glanced warily around the diner before leaning across the table towards the archangel, eyes unamused. "Why did you call me here Gabriel? I only came because it was you and you've been off Heaven's radar long enough I thought I could trust you. I am beginning to regret this decision."

"You'll probably regret it more when we're finished with this," Gabriel replied, leaning back in the booth with a wide smirk. "But trust me, you'll want to hear this anyway."

The other angel studied Gabriel for a moment and then nodded once, settling back in his seat. "Ok. Talk." Gabriel's smirk widened into a full grin before he plunged into his story.

"What do you know about the events surrounding Samael's banishment?" he questioned.

"Just the usual story," Balthazar returned. "He disobeyed, he was thrown out of Heaven without any word from Daddy, the usual trash."

"Good," Gabriel replied, genuine grin making an appearance. "Then you don't just believe everything that spills down from up above. That makes this so much easier." He paused, settling his elbows on the table and leaning toward his brother. "Lucifer cast Sam down, not anyone else. That has to be perfectly clear before we move on."

"It doesn't matter if Lucifer cast him down or Michael," Balthazar hissed, leaning forward as well. "What matters is how much Hell managed to twist him before he got out."

"Both did actually, in turn," Gabriel said coldly, sitting ramrod straight as tension ran through his frame. Balthazar's chilly expression faltered at that news but Gabriel pressed on. "And not as much as you would think."

"Are you talking about Sam?" Jessica placed Gabriel's food and drink in front of him before sliding a beer in front of Balthazar. Quick as a snake, Gabriel's hand shot out to wrap around her wrist.

"How do you know Sam?"

"We were sleeping together during the crusades," Jessica replied calmly, black eyes meeting caramel. "Before I became a witch, sold my soul, and ended up a demon. Sometimes we talk. Just not lately."

"Sammy didn't mention that to me."

"If you haven't noticed, Sam isn't one for sharing details of his life after what happened to him," Jessica retorted. "Now can I have my arm back?" Gabriel released her and she huffed at him, tossing her hair. "How is he?" Despite her irritation she looked genuinely concerned and he felt himself softening slightly.

"He's been better," Gabriel said, looking at her with cold eyes. "But from what I hear he's been a lot worse." Jessica nodded once and clicked off on her heels once again, leaving them alone.

"Wait a minute," Balthazar murmured. "You've actually been in contact with Samael? He hasn't been seen in centuries."

"Well he's out," Gabriel said. "And he was trying to stop the apocalypse but Raphael and Lilith made sure that didn't happen so now he's trying to help us find Michael."

" _Find_ Michael?" Balthazar asked incredulously. "Can't you just call him down from Heaven to kick Luci's ass and end the world as we know it forever?"

"Michael isn't in Heaven." There was a pause as the other angel took that in and then Balthazar reached for the beer.

"You were right. I'm going to need a lot of alcohol to deal with this." Gabriel smirked tiredly at his brother and leaned back in his seat again.

"According to good old Raphael, Mikey hasn't been in Heaven for years," Gabriel said after a moment, waiting for his brother to swallow before speaking. "And it all adds up with what memories I have from before deciding to fall."

Despite his best attempts to prevent this very situation, Balthazar still choked, but on time on thin air instead of a drink. "You, you _fell_?"

"Castiel as well," he replied, running a hand through his hair. And wincing as Balthazar choked again and began to cough. "We got our graces back not long before Lucifer rose."

"How is Cassie?" the other angel questioned, glancing subtly around the diner. "I don't see him here."

"He's dead," Gabriel replied flatly. "Lucifer stabbed him through the middle with his sword." A woman across the diner laughed loudly, a little kid began to wail, and a woman was tapping a spoon against the side of her bowl. Neither angel said a word, Gabriel nervously tracing protective sigils across the table and Balthazar clutching his drink so hard it was in danger of shattering.

"I am sorry," Balthazar said at last. Then he lifted blazing eyes to meet Gabriel's. "And I want to help."

"Good," Gabriel replied. "I was hoping you'd say that."

\---

Years ago a young and impressionable Jessica Ormond had met a former archangel called Samael during the height of the Crusades. He had been beaten, bruised, and covered in blood when she'd first passed him in a dark alley. Slowly, as he had healed, he had told her his true story all while looking at her with frightened eyes as if he expected her to throw him out or try to kill him or get him thrown where they put the insane people. Somewhere along the line she had fallen in love with him.

Centuries later, Jessica was no longer in love but she still cared for Sam. He awakened whatever humanity she had left inside her demonic self, made her care for something beyond her own needs. He was the reason she was avoiding the apocalypse. Poor Sam would have enough trouble with Lucifer after him. He didn't need an old friend coming to kill him as well. That was why she went by Jessica Moore, waitressed in a Minnesota diner, and generally avoided all demonic activities.

It didn't mean she hadn't heard the rumors. She had known Sam was out of Hell, called him once early on to warn him that Lilith was roving the earth and then ditched the phone. She had also heard about his visit to Sarah Blake, a woman who Jessica was decidedly fond of, and Sarah's subsequent death. She had also heard about Anna. Anna Milton, formerly known as Anael, had been a fallen angel who had loved Sam and he, by all accounts, had loved her in turn. Then the demon that had called herself Ruby had murdered Anna and Jessica knew that meant Sam was hurting. He rarely allowed himself to love but when he did it was so complete that it had taken young Jessica Ormond's breath away. Even now the thought of Sam's devotion had her heart pounding a mile a minute.

She wanted so badly to help but she knew better. Sam couldn't afford to lose another former love. He had already lost Sarah and Anna, another death of a girl he had loved would end him. No, Jessica wouldn't interfere. She would stay right here out of the way of the apocalypse and be waiting to patch her friend up when this entire mess was over.


	4. The Demon Glass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, good news, I do actually have this story completely written on my computer (not completely edited yet but still) and right now counting the prologue is has twenty chapters (and I'm now working on the third in the trilogy). Also this series will have a few side stories (some AU to this universe and some not so much) so if you have any suggestions on what you want to see let me know and I may just write it! I'll let you know on updates for the side stories/ timestamps as we get there. Sorry for the really long author's note but that's everything you need to know right now! Enjoy!

Two angels weren't having any more luck finding Michael than just one by himself. They had, however, found a mirror that apparently summoned demons. Which meant that they had to take care of it or risk the witches in possession of it unleashing more demons to go after Samael. "Who makes these things?" Balthazar muttered, brushing away a spider web.

"Eight legged arachnids," Gabriel replied, then flinched as the other angel smacked him on the back of the head. "Ow!"

"Suck it up princess," Balthazar shot back. "You knew what I meant."

"Witches," Gabriel replied with a shrug. "Who are almost like the human version of spiders; creepy and unpleasantly unexpected."

"So why exactly are we looking for this mirror in the attic? If it is something they use often then wouldn't it be with their other supplies?"

"I felt traces in the attic," Gabriel shot back impatiently, snapping open a trunk and fishing through it. "Thus, our presence in the attic." Balthazar mutter something that sounding suspiciously like an insult in Enochian under his breath and turned to glance at another box. Gabriel turned back to his trunk with a roll of his eyes, missing the smirk on his brother's face. The archangel yelped as boxes all across the attic flew open. Balthazar snickered behind him and Gabriel tilted his head to glare at his brother. "Very funny," he drawled, letting his grace trail across the room.

"Don't bother," Balthazar called. "It isn't here."

"Dad damn it," Gabriel grumbled, rolling his eyes again when his brother arched an eyebrow at him. "Where is it then if you're so smart?"

"Downstairs on the coffee table," Balthazar returned smugly. "I saw it while we were here interviewing the witch."

"I hate you," Gabriel grumbled and vanished with a flutter of his wings, leaving his smirking brother behind.

\---

"What's so important in Illinois?" Sam asked as rain pounded on the roof of the bus.

"What do you mean?" Alastair questioned from where he was lounging in the very back seats. Sam was sitting across the aisle from him, vaguely amused by the fact that no one had wanted to sit anywhere near the demon.

"You keep pushing me to take faster transportation," Sam muttered.

"You're an _angel_ ," Alastair hissed back, expression frustrated and tone only mildly menacing. "You should behave like one."

"Angel?" Sam snorted. "Yeah right. Besides, I'm tired and it'll draw Lucifer's attention if I do." Alastair gave the former archangel a look that said clearly the demon knew he was making excuses but didn't have the energy to deal with them. They settled back into silence, exhaustion washing over Sam in waves. Since Lucifer had begun haunting his dreams, Sam had not truly been able to rest and recharge what little power he had left. That left Sam fatigued, more emotional than usual, and more prone to self-depreciation. Hesitantly, not really wishing to but knowing he couldn't avoid it, Sam closed his eyes and slipped into sleep.

\---

Dean was making his way down the coast, heading for warmer weather. His search for any sign of dampened coast had taken him toward North Carolina, which wasn't exactly warm during mid-November but it was warmer than upstate New York. He wasn't finding any sign of Michael but he was seeing plenty signs of the upcoming end of the world. Somehow Lucifer had taken the time to release Pestilence, at least judging from the outbreak of a disease that appeared eerily similar to the Croatian virus. Ordinarily Dean would have been one of the angels sent to deal with problems such as Pestilence but Heaven seemed to have been sent into a state of disarray and he had seen neither hide nor hair of any angel on earth besides he and his brothers.

"Nasty, isn't it?" a voice asked and Dean turned to study the girl next to him. She was tall and slim with dark hair and wide brown eyes. She was dressed in a business dress suit and one heeled foot tapped nervously on the sidewalk. She was also a werewolf. "My name's Madison Keller. I'm a friend of Sam's. He called a couple hours ago and said he'd heard you were on the way here."

"Dumah," Dean replied, tone controlled and formal. "But my brothers call me Dean." Madison dipped her head respectfully.

"Here's my address if you need a place to stay," she said, handing over a business card without looking at him. "I'll let Sam know you've arrived safely." Then she turned and clicked off on her high heels, not bothering to look back. Dean watched her go for a moment and then shook his head, wondering how Sam always managed to get the pretty girls.

\---

_"Wouldn't it just be easier to talk this out in person Sammy?" Lucifer asked, slowly circling around the broken archangel._

_"So you can murder me while we're doing it?" Samael replied tiredly. "No Lucifer. It doesn't sound easier."_

_"Don't be like that Sammy," the older angel chided, slipping an almost gentle hand around his younger brother's neck. "I miss you. I just want to see you."_

_"And destroy the world," Sam shot back dryly. "I got the memo Luci." He choked when Lucifer tightened his grip on his throat. Sam couldn't see his brother's expression because Lucifer was still behind him but he could guess at the inhuman rage twisted on that all too human face. Then the grip loosened and Lucifer was suddenly in front of him, searching eyes studying Sam intently._

_"Just come see me Sammy. We can talk, I promise."_

_"You lie Lucifer."_

_"Not to you," the fallen Morningstar said solemnly and then faded away as a hand shook Sam out of sleep._

"We're at a stop," Alastair said, face clear of its characteristic smirk. "I thought you might like to get out and stretch those gigantic legs of yours." Sam nodded once, too disturbed by Lucifer's dream visit and surprisingly sincere statement just before he had woken. He stood, completely missing the vague sense of concern and foreboding on the demon's face as he joined the throng to leave the bus.

\---

The mirror _was_ actually downstairs. That was the good news. The bad news was that two middle aged female witches and a boy of about twelve who looked to be helping them. "Shit," Gabriel muttered then then almost jumped out of his vessel when Balthazar clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Do you want them to hear us?" the other angel hissed.

"We're angels," Gabriel shot back. "What could possibly go wrong?"

"Oh I don't know," Balthazar drawled, waving a lazy hand at the three witches. "Maybe that." Gabriel turned, saw three pairs of suddenly black eyes staring at him and the mirror blazing like pale blue fire.

"Yeah. That could be a problem."


	5. Demons Lie

With all three witches possessed by demons there was no need to hide who they were. Both angels unleashed as much of their grace as they could manage without burning up their vessels and stepped into view. "Gabriel," the demon wearing the blonde haired woman they had interviewed earlier. "And a little angel foot soldier. How pleasant."

"Do I know you?" Gabriel asked, tilting his head and trying to focus on the demonic form feeding off of the human soul inside the currently shared body. Then his eyes widened slightly. "Asmodeus."

"At your service," the demon replied with a mocking bow. "I know this isn't my usual gender but the boy was just far too young to be worth anything. This one, however, much more appealing." Hands drifted over the frame almost suggestively and Gabriel growled low in his throat. "What's the matter Gabriel? Don't you appreciate our reunion?"

"What are you doing here Asmodeus?" the archangel demanded.

"You mean you don't know?" the demon shot back. "Our lord is free and the end is near! Of course I'm here. Why wouldn't I be?" Gabriel growled and lunged at the demon only to be flung back. He was slammed hard against the ceiling and the pressure against the chest of his vessel was crushing. He squirmed, fighting against the forces holding him pinned. He should have been able to throw off the bonds easily but Asmodeus was strong and clever and the archangel was out of practice and currently cut off from his power supply in Heaven after years of living as a human.

"Balthazar," he gasped out and got an eye roll in response. The angel sauntered further into the room, smiting the demon in the twelve year old boy with a motion that would have looked casual had Gabriel not known how much work it took to smite a demon without also killing off the human trapped inside their own skin. The second demon faltered at that and Asmodeus was still fixed on the archangel he had trapped.

"Hey snake boy," Balthazar sneered, making light of the idea that Asmodeus had been the snake in the garden. He hadn't been and the idea insulted him instead of flattering him like most demons expected it to. "Look what I have." The angel held the mirror over his head, waving it in a mocking manner. The demon froze, eyes widening as it turned to stare at the mirror.

" _No_ ," it snarled but Balthazar was already hurling the mirror downwards, sending it crashing toward the floor. As the mirror shattered the demons were jerked out of their vessels and Gabriel was sent plummeting to the floor with a groan.

"Did you have to do it that way?" he whined as a hand dangled in front of his face.

"Stop complaining and get off the floor," Balthazar returned dryly. "We have work to do." Gabriel growled under his breath, ignored the hand, and climbed to his feet on his own. 

Ok, Let's go," he grumbled. "And in the next state, no more shattering demon calling mirrors." Balthazar just snorted and headed for the door, leaving a scowling Gabriel behind.

\---

Dean did end up staying with Madison; not because he needed sleep but because after days of traveling and relentlessly searching for any sign of the wayward Michael he was lonely. That was how he found himself sitting across from the werewolf at a tiny kitchen table while she was eating her dinner. "So how did you meet Sam?" he asked as Madison twirled her spaghetti on a fork.

"I met him not long after he'd crawled out of Hell this time around," she said calmly. "I'd just gotten bit but I didn't know it and I was killing people. Sam came to investigate, told me the truth, and helped me figure out how to be contained during the full moon." She went back to her spaghetti as if that were the end of the conversation.

"Contained?" Dean pressed and Madison nodded, shoving a strand of hair away from her face.

"We fixed my closet up so it's werewolf proof," Madison explained. "I spend full moon nights in there." Then she picked up her plate and headed for the sink. "I hope you don't mind sleeping on the couch." Then she left the room, making it obvious that the conversation was over. Twenty minutes later the house was silent and Dean was still sitting alone at the kitchen table wondering why exactly Sam had chosen to give Madison a second chance instead of eliminating her. Had his brother really been so alone that he'd tried to save a werewolf just to find some kind of companionship? The thought was too depressing to consider for long and Dean quickly pushed it out of his mind; standing and heading over to the sink to finish cleaning the dishes.

\---

The second part of the bus ride involved Sam being cramped up in the back of the bus with a demon pressed far too closely to him for comfort. Especially when he was in debt to said demon. The bus had filled up at their last stop which had resulted in Alastair moving across the aisle to sit next to the former archangel while a human warily slunk into the seat closest to the window. The young man kept shooting Alastair nervous glances, as if the demon was going to eat him. Come to think of it, that might be a valid concern. His cell phone chirping softly caught his attention and he dug it out of his pocket, flipping it open. "Hello?"

"Hi Sam," Madison said softly from the other end. "Your friend is currently crashed in my living room, well as in he's sitting in my living room watching crappy late night television." Sam snorted and glanced out the window. "He's not hurt, just lonely I think. And obnoxious."

"Sorry about all this Maddy," Sam said softly. "And thank you."

"It's no problem," Madison replied. "And Sam?"

"Yes?"

"Stay safe." Then she hung up before he could reply. Sam smiled softly and moved to put his phone back only to have it chirp again. He stared warily at the phone and then answered it cautiously.

"Hi?"

"Hey Sammy," Gabriel chirped happily in his ear. "How's it hanging?"

"How'd you get this number?" Sam demanded, turning his exasperated gaze toward the roof of the bus.

"Your little demon buddy," Gabriel replied and Sam could almost see his brother's smirk. "So guess who I tracked down?"

"The Abominable Snowman?" Sam drawled and heard his older brother snort.

"Now Sammy. Just another angel who happens to be walking around on this mudball. I told him everything and-"

"You what?" Sam squeaked, almost shooting out of his seat only to have Alastair force him to sit back down. "What are you trying to do Gabriel? Get us killed?"

"Relax Sammy," Gabriel shot back laconically. "It's an old friend." Sam waited tensely for Gabriel to finish. Instead the phone changed hands.

"Hello Samael," an all too familiar voice said and for an instant Sam froze, clutching the phone so tightly for a moment that he thought it would shatter. Then he quickly snapped the phone shut, hanging up. It rang again a moment later but Sam refused to answer it, instead shoving it back in his pocket.

"Sam?" Alastair asked warily.

"It's nothing."

" _Sam_?" Alastair insisted.

"It's _nothing_ ," Sam snarled, his tone harsh enough to make the young man sitting across the aisle flinch closer to the window. Alastair settled back in his seat, expression contemplative as the phone began chirping again. As soon as the bus rolled to a stop fifteen minutes later the young man scrambled out of his seat and was the first one off of the bus. Sam desperately wanted to follow but the way Alastair was lounging in his seat made it impossible for the angel to escape without pushing the demon; something he wanted to avoid at all cost.

"Who keeps calling?" Alastair asked finally, waiting until the bus had cleared to open the subject. Sam glanced vainly around for any sign of rescue but received none. Even the bus driver had temporarily exited the vicinity. 

"Gabriel," he admitted finally. "He's pulling some kind of joke and it isn't funny." Alastair arched his eyebrows and then shook his head.

"Call him," the demon said and then stood to temporarily exit the bus.

"Alastair-" Sam began to shout after him but the demon lifted a hand to silence him.

"Call him," Alastair ordered and then left before Sam could protest. Left alone on the bus Sam pulled out his phone, warily hit the redial button, and put it to his ear.

\---

"He hung up on you?" Gabriel squeaked for the eight time that evening.

"Calm down Gabriel," Balthazar returned calmly, motioning at the bartender to hit them again. "You pretty much threw the kid under the bus when you handed me the phone. He probably thinks you're playing some kind of joke on him." 

"Not. Helping," Gabriel snarled irritably. The bartender slid two fresh shot glasses across the bar and then bustled off to deal with her other customers. A phone chirped, making the archangel jump. It chirped again and Gabriel pulled it out, staring incredulously at the number. "It's Sam," he said at last, voice soft and almost ashamed.

"Phone," Balthazar said, holding out his hand. He was unsurprised when the archangel handed it over. Gabriel was feeling guilty and a guilty Gabriel was one that was willing to give his brothers pretty much whatever they asked. "Hello Sam," he said calmly when he answered the phone and caught the nervous intake of breath.

"This isn't funny," Samael said after a moment, voice wavering slightly.

"The first time you tried to fly was too soon," Balthazar recited calmly. "You ended up falling and I caught you." This time the intake of breath was shocked instead of nervous. "It's really me Sam." 

There was a long pause and then Sam hissed, "Balthazar?"

"You rang," he returned ironically and heard Sam snort.

"It really is you," the youngest archangel breathed. There was a muffled voice talking to Sam and the dragged down angel grumbled, "Oh shut up."

"I didn't say anything," the older angel teased and got and exasperated huff for his efforts.

"I wasn't talking to you," Sam grumbled. "Put Gabriel on."

"Why?" Balthazar inquired, tilting his head slightly even though Sam couldn't see him.

"I'm going to kill him through the phone line," Sam drawled and Balthazar snorted. "No, I want to talk to him."

"Fine, fine. Here's your brother. Good luck Sam." Then Balthazar handed over the phone, grinning slightly as Gabriel drawled slightly drunkenly into the receiver only to brighten up visibly at whatever Sam told him. It wasn't quite a harmonious Heaven but it was as close as Balthazar had seen in a long time.


	6. The Books

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Besides this chapter as an update for today, I'm also posting a bit of back story (a one-shot) called The Fall. Enjoy and see you Monday!

"Madison? _Madison_!"

" _What_?" the werewolf demanded, stomping into the living room from the kitchen with a banana in hand. "I have to get to work on time you know."

"What is this?" Dean demanded, waving a paperback book at her.

"What?"

" _This_."

"It's a book," Madison said in the same tone people used to talk to children who were being particularly dense. "You open it up and read what's inside."

"I know that," Dean grumbled. "But I also know that you don't have to read something if you've lived it."

"What?" Madison cast the banana back into the kitchen and marched over to him, snatching the book out of Dean's hand. Lazarus Rising, proudly declared the title. Dean had picked it up out of curiosity ten minutes ago, read the summary, and almost turned inside out in shock. Madison studied the book and then frowned. "This is my friend Kelly's. She brought it over for me at the office yesterday. Some kind of series she reads. You're telling me that all this is _real_?"

"Yes," Dean replied grimly. "There's a prophet somewhere out there making money off of our real lives. Not that if matters if the world ends like everyone seems to think it's supposed to."

"You could track down the author today," Madison suggested. "I'll boot up my computer before I leave and you can see what you can find."

"Thanks Madison," Dean said absently as the woman handed him the book back. He was already back to flipping through the pages, searching for the pages were Sam came in out of a sense of curiosity. He wanted to know what his brother had been up to before he'd ever reunited with him.

\---

Sam's phone rang at just after eight in the morning, jolting him out of his first night of uninterrupted rest he'd gotten since Lucifer had been freed. He groaned under his breath, shifting uncomfortably before digging his phone out. Falling asleep in a bus seat might be painless for small children but Sam's current frame was too large to be anything but uncomfortable. "Yeah," he mumbled by way of answering the phone.

"Hey Sammy," came the amused reply, the voice jolting him fully awake.

"Dean?"

"Yes, it's me. I'm borrowing your lovely friend Madison's home phone to call you."

"She's engaged Dean," Sam said with an exasperated roll of his eyes. "To a very nice young man."

"Doesn't matter," Dean shot back. "You got to her first anyway."

"Get to the point Dean," Sam grumbled, fighting the flush spreading across his face. Things between he and Madison had never been like _that_ but she had been a friend when he had desperately needed one and he had returned the favor by helping her when she found out she was a werewolf.

"There's a prophet," Dean blurted out and muscles that Sam recently begun to relax stiffened up again.

"Dad has a prophet?"

"Yes."

"You're sure."

"I'm sure," Dean confirmed. "Because he's making money off of our existences. I'm holding a published book of when I dragged Castiel out of Hell."

"Do you know who it is?"

"Carver Edlund, AKA Chuck Shurley," Dean replied. "Make a detour Sam. He's in Michigan."

"Damnit," Sam growled under his breath, ignoring the demon smirking next to him. "Ok. Give me the address. We'll go check it out before we head to Illinois." Dean did. Sam grumbled under his breath and hung up the phone. "Alastair, we're making a detour."

\---

On the surface, Chuck Shurley was having a perfectly normal day. Inside he was in turmoil. One of his sons, one who had been so wronged, was coming to see him. Chuck wanted desperately to be able to speak to this son, reassure him that everything was going to be ok. He couldn't. Ineffability and all that. So he waited instead. He waited and typed on, shaping the future; searching through the options and calculating the likelihoods until he reached the big picture. The ineffable one. And he waited

\---

Sam hesitated and then lifted his hand, knocking on the front door. There was a muffled curse word, the crashing sound of someone tripping, and then a man with day old facial hair answered the door in a ratty bathrobe. "Chuck Shurley?" Sam questioned warily, suddenly really glad that he'd left Alastair behind. The man looked like a strong wind would blow him over and Alastair definitely qualified.

"Yeah." The man studied him with bleary, reddened eyes and then Sam could almost see the light going off in his head. "You're Samael." Sam flinched at that and began to back away only to be stopped by a surprisingly strong hand grabbing his jacket sleeve. "Don't run. You have questions," Chuck said. "Just don't come in. There's an angel floating around the house or something like that."

"Raphael?" Sam asked, his voice barely more than a whisper, and Chuck nodded.

"Questions," the prophet prodded. "Quickly!"

"Are you a prophet?"

"So I've been told."

"Do you know where Michael is?"

"Yes." 

"Can you tell me?"

"No," Chuck replied solemnly. "Ineffability and all that. But trust me, you all are on your way and it won't be long now." Sam nodded once in thanks, moved to leave, and then hesitated.

"How badly does this turn out? For them, I mean. I already know it ends badly for me."

"Nothing ever works out quite the way you expect," Chuck replied mysteriously. Then the man stepped backwards into his house and shut the door. Sam stared at the closed door for a moment before shaking his head to clear it and hurried away from the house. He had a bus to catch.

\---

Madison's home phone rang at just after seven in the evening. Madison herself answered, smiled, and then handed it over to Dean. "It's for you," she said before kicking off her heels and heading for her bedroom to change. She'd just gotten back from work when the phone had rang and she'd snatched it up before the angel could even get off the couch. She was smelling distinctively wolfish which meant the full moon was coming soon.

"Sam?" he asked after taking the phone from Madison.

"I found Chuck," Sam said in answer to the unspoken question. "I was a little…uh…underwhelmed." Dean snorted but allowed his brother to continue. "He wouldn't tell me much. Just said that Raphael was watching and that we're close to finding Michael."

"Well at least the second part is good," Dean grumbled. "You told Gabe?"

"Nope," Sam replied in the distinct tone of voice that someone who didn't intend to do the mentioned task either.

"What did he do?" Dean asked warily.

"Threw me under a bus," Sam replied calmly and Dean choked on air. "Metaphorically speaking," Sam added quickly. "Look Dean, I've got to go. I have a bus to catch."

"Right," Dean agreed absently, mind already turning toward a less pleasant conversation with Gabriel. "Good luck in Illinois Sam." The phone clicked in his ear and he sighed before reluctantly dialing another number.


	7. Discovery

Michael was cleaning yet another sticky counter from the affairs of earlier in the evening when the door of the bar swung open, the bell jingling merrily. The oldest archangel in existence glanced up from his task and found himself confronted with the grace of a sibling he had never expected to see again. Samael was looking a little worse for wear, okay a lot, and was walking next to an exceptionally powerful demon. "I'm telling you," Sam was hissing as he stalked across the bar. "There isn't anyone remotely supernatural in this entire Dad forsaken state."

"Patience Samael," the demon chided.

"I don't have time to be patient," Sam hissed back. "Lucifer's barely a step behind us and at this rate he'll have murdered us all before we have any chance of stopping him."

"Relax Sammy-"

"Don't call me that," Sam hissed, shrugging the demon's hand off his shoulder. Then his eyes met Michael's and he froze. The archangel could almost see his younger brother tensing up at the sight of him. Granted, their last meeting hadn't exactly gone well. Michael had ignored his brother's pleas and, without any sign of his father's will, had thrown Sam back down to Hell. Now looking at ragged wings and the tall frame curling in on itself he felt nothing but regret. " _Shit_ ," Samael said and then bolted.

Or at least he tried to. The demon grabbed Sam before he could scramble back more than a step, halting him in his tracks. "Honestly angel, are you a man or a mouse?"

"Neither," Sam hissed back, looking torn between panic and annoyance. "And I'm not an angel either."

"I thought we discussed this already."

"You called me an overgrown pigeon. That was the extent of our so-called discussion." Sam then waved his free hand in an almost terrified motion at Michael. "Now can we get out of here?"

"No." Michael wasn't entirely sure who was more surprised, he or Samael.

"Do you know who _that_ is?" Sam demanded, his voice rising in pitch.

"Yes. I'm not blind Sam."

"That's debatable considering your reaction," Sam snarled and then yelped when the demon tightened his grip.

"We finish what we came here for," the demon said calmly.

"It wasn't supposed to be me," Sam replied despairingly. "It was supposed to be Gabe or Dean, not me! Do you understand?"

"Yes." The demon's voice was surprisingly gentle as he looked Sam in the eyes. "I understand. And I won't leave you here alone with him, I promise."

"No," Sam growled, suddenly wrenching away. "I'm not doing this." There was a ragged snap of wings and then Sam was gone, leaving the archangel and demon alone staring at each other across the bar. Or rather, leaving the demon to stare at the bar because Michael had taken off after his little brother.

\---

Sam landed heavily on the grass and then yelped when someone landed on top of him. He tried to squirm free only to have a hand press down against one of his ragged wings with deadly precision. Sam screamed as a bone snapped, grace flaring slightly and brushing against a still uncorrupted but Hell stained version of another's. A familiar one. "Lucifer," he hissed, his voice ragged with fear and pain.

"Hello Samael," the archangel replied calmly, suddenly releasing his younger brother and pulling him upright. Sam glared at his brother, tucking his injured wing in as much as he could manage.

"What do you want?" he hissed.

"To say hello in person," Lucifer crooned and Sam's glare darkened.

"And you had to break a wing to do that?" he snarled.

"You're telling me that you wouldn't have bolted if I hadn't?" Lucifer inquired, being disgustingly reasonable.

"Leave me alone," Sam pleaded hopelessly, already knowing the answer.

"Sorry Sammy," came the easy reply. "No can do. You see, I need allies I can trust and I thought since Heaven has forcefully evicted you-"

"He would join you instead?" Sam's eyes widened as a new figure landed whisper soft behind Lucifer. Once more Sam found himself staring at brown hair and very blue eyes and an all too familiar grace. "If you have not noticed brother, he has been working against you since the beginning of this all."

"Michael," Lucifer said pleasantly, obviously forcing his face into a horrendous mockery of a cheerful expression. "So nice to see you again big brother." Then he pivoted on his heel, turning his attention toward the oldest archangel. "Last time I saw you it was during my blazing descent into the Cage." Michael didn't respond, expression completely blank. "So let me get this straight," Lucifer continued. "You think that Sammy here is going to join you? Because last I saw you were calling him a freak and sending him hurtling back down into Hell. And after all that work he did to get out too."

"I'm not saying he is going to help me," Michael replied. "But he is not inclined to help you either."

"Michael, Michael, Michael," Lucifer tutted. "You obviously know nothing out the art of persuasion. You see, Sammy and I have been talking, and I know something you don't. All Sam here wants is his family back. And he'll do just about anything to get it." Sam had felt frozen with the arrival of Michael. He had been stuck choosing between his two worst nightmares; the two beings that had senselessly thrown him into Hell. Now he was angry.

"Not _anything_ ," he hissed.

"What was that?" Lucifer asked, turning an icy glare on his younger brother.

"I wouldn't do _anything_ ," Sam repeated, his voice suddenly wavering nervously at having Lucifer's full attention focused on him again. 

"Really?" Lucifer inquired with a mocking smile. "Like you weren't considering joining Lilith when she made the offer just for a little company?" Guilt hit Sam somewhere in the center of his being, turning him to stone. "Or how you wouldn't consider walking off with me if I promised to end all this and leave your brothers alone and unharmed?" Sam gulped as Lucifer advanced, little stalking steps of a predator approaching paralyzed prey. "You would, wouldn't you Sammy? Be honest." Lucifer was inches away from Sam and he was leaning back as far as he could but couldn't bring himself to move. 

The younger archangel licked his lips nervously, trying not to give the answer he knew Lucifer was looking for. "Yes," he croaked out at last and Lucifer's answering smile was terrifying. It wasn't as terrifying as the fact that Sam was telling the truth. Sam had made a deal with _Alastair_ of all demons to try to prevent Lucifer's rising and save the world. If he thought he could truly do the same thing by going with Lucifer then he would.

Sam was so trapped in the moment that he didn't realize Michael had moved until an arm wrapped around his chest and pure gold wings snapped in front of his face. He let out a little squeak of surprise and found himself suddenly cocooned in a mass of golden feathers. He leaned in instinctively, because old habits were hard to break and he remembered being wrapped in these same feathers when he was a fledgling. "Aww, look at that," he heard Lucifer coo. "You have little brother all wrapped up away from me as if that will change the fact that you threw him to the wolves all those years ago."

"You know what Lucifer?" Michael replied, his voice suddenly filled with barely controlled anger. "Fuck you." There was sudden, distinctively stunned silence coming from where Lucifer stood. Sam reached out hesitantly and fisted a hand in Michael's feathers, tugging lightly. The wing curved protectively closer and Sam, even unsure as he was about the whole situation, didn't protest.

"Care to repeat that?" Lucifer asked, sounding uncertain for the first time in centuries.

"You heard me," Michael said, voice slightly more calm. "Fuck. You." Lucifer made a noise that sounding like he was choking and inhaling helium at the same time. Then Michael's wings snapped around Sam again and they left Lucifer behind; standing stunned in a grassy field somewhere far away from Illinois.


	8. Werewolf Blues

Madison woke up at two in the morning with the distinct feeling that something was wrong. There was no rustling in the house, no sign of movement anywhere, but the feeling in her gut told her that someone was there. She slid cautiously out of her bed and tiptoed on silent feet to the doorway, peering out into the rest of the apartment. It was dark and silent, despite the fact that she had an angel sitting in her living room probably staring at a black television screen. Warily she headed for the living room, wondering if perhaps a demon hadn't entered to attack the angel in question.

"Madison?" she jumped and turned her head to find herself looking directly into green eyes.

"Something's wrong," she and Dean both hissed at the same time. They stared at each other for a moment and then Madison sighed softly.

"I'll check the kitchen if you check the front door and the hallway," she said. Dean nodded once and Madison turned her back on him. 

The kitchen was untouched but Madison couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. "Nothing outside," Dean reported and Madison yelped, jumping almost a foot off the ground. "Sorry."

"It's ok," Madison said, forcing a wide yawn even though she was wide awake. "It must have been the aftermath of a dream or something. I'm going back to sleep now. I have work in the morning."

"Sleep well Madison," Dean called after her as she headed for her bedroom. "I'll keep watch." Madison lifted a hand in acknowledgement and then stepped into her room, shutting the door behind her. When she turned back something hit her over the head and she crumpled to the floor.

\---

Gabriel groaned, trying to shove himself out of the mud at the bottom of what had once been a well. "Thanks a lot bro," he called up, lifting a muddy hand to shove his hair out of his face only to look at the mess of brown black glop on it and change his mind.

"No problem," Balthazar called back cheerfully. Gabriel flipped him the bird and then finally managed to climb to his feet with a groan. "See anything?"

"Yeah," Gabriel called back, peering into the darkness of a hand carved tunnel. "There's some sort of path carved out down here. Carved by human, or at least humanoid, hands. You coming to check it out?"

"Nah," Balthazar replied. "I'll just wait up here. Yell if you need anything."

"I'll scream like a little girl," Gabriel retorted dryly, already heading into the tunnel. His brother's laughter followed him around the corner and into the dark.

\---

Gordon Walker had hunted a lot of monsters in his time. He preferred vampires, like the bloodsuckers that had forced him to kill his little sister April, but anything else would do. This was his first werewolf however and he wanted to do it right. Werewolves _looked_ human but when the full moon rose overhead they were anything but. They turned savage before ripping out and consuming human hearts. The one before him had dark hair, a petite frame, and wide eyes. She looked innocent enough probably up to the point where she ripped your heart out.

The girl groaned and slowly those doe brown eyes fluttered open. Gordon watched she slowly focused on him, groaning lowly. "Who are you?" she asked, voice hazy sounding. "Where am I?"

"Madison, Madison, Madison," Gordon chided. "Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is who you are. Or rather what."

"Where am I?" Madison demanded again, her voice stronger this time. "What do you want with me?"

"This might come as a shock to you," Gordon told her. "But you're a werewolf."

"No duh," Madison replied bluntly. "Tell me something I don't know. Besides, it isn't like I go around killing people." Gordon was momentarily silenced. During his observations of the werewolf he had discovered her fiancé, her Friday nights out with her female friends, and had thought she was reasonable and polite. What he was overlooking was the fact that getting kidnapped from one's apartment at two in the morning could make a girl distinctively cranky.

"I'm sorry Madison," Gordon said, laying on false sympathy once he gained his voice back. "You seem like a really nice lady but you're a monster. You have to die."

"I really hate to quote," a new voice spoke up suddenly from a patch of shadows somewhere behind Madison in the warehouse. Gordon had found the warehouse when he'd been scouting out the werewolf and since it was abandoned and isolated he had decided it was the perfect place to kill her. He was beginning to regret that decision. "But don't touch a hair on that poor girl's head," the speaker finished, stepping into view. Gordon was struck by cold green eyes and the glimmering sword in his hand. 

Gordon lifted the gun on reflex and fired. The bullet struck home, punching through the leather jacket the figure was wearing. He didn't so much shift at the impact. "I'm sorry Gordon Walker," the figure said with a smirk. "But today is not your lucky day."

\---

The tunnel Gabriel had found consisted of mud, mud, and more mud. Oh, and a dead body. Despite his earlier sarcasm Gabriel did almost scream like a little girl when the body dropped from where it had been incased in dry and cracking mud on the ceiling to land on his head. He did manage to cut it down to a squeak as he batted it aside with wildly flailing hands. Quickly his panic faded away and he found himself staring at a young woman with her chest cavity torn open and her heart missing.

"Balthazar," he called finally. "I think we have a problem." He waited, didn't get a reply, and sighed before raising the volume. " _BALTHAZAR_!"

" _WHAT_?" came the annoyed response.

" _I. THINK. WE. HAVE. A. PROBLEM_ ," he bellowed.

"There's no need to yell like that. I can hear perfectly fine." Gabriel growled, grabbed the body, and flung it directly at his brother. His rage was not at all abated by the fact that Balthazar calmly dodged. Then the other angel toed the corpse over with a shoe. "Looks like a werewolf victim."

"Oh gee," Gabriel retorted with mock calm. "I hadn't noticed."

"There's no need to be sarcastic," Balthazar commented dryly. "Come on, we need to find ourselves a werewolf."

\---

Madison was having a very bad start to her day. First she'd been woken at two in the morning by a bad feeling, then she'd been kidnapped and tied up in an abandoned building, and now she was tied to a chair while Bad Sarcasm and Stupider Decisions argued. Honestly she wasn't even sure which was which by this point in the exchange. All she knew was that Dean had a sword, the black man had a gun that didn't work on Dean, and she was lucky she hadn't been shot by a stray silver bullet by now. She squirmed against the ropes, trying to find some kind of slack. She didn't have any luck.

" _Dean_ ," she growled as he feinted with the sword toward the black man. "Why don't you stop playing with the big bad hunter and come untie me?"

"Just a minute Maddy," came the response. "I'm a bit busy here." Madison snorted but settled down, watching the fighting. In a movement that was pure grace, Dean shifted around the black man's swinging gun and knocked him over the head with the sword. The hunter went down and, with a flick of the angel's wrist, the sword vanished. "How's that for ending a fight?"

"Nicely done," Madison replied, managing a tired smile. He grinned, a more genuine smile than she'd seen on the angel's face since she'd met him. He untied her and she stood, carefully stretching muscles that ached from being tied up. "Thank you Dean."

"No problem Madison," Dean replied, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "After all, I have to get you back home for your boyfriend."

\---

"Four hours and no werewolf," Gabriel groaned. "What is this? Where's Waldo?"

"Waldo's over there," Balthazar said dryly, motioning across the bar towards a scruffy looking young man with long black hair. "The one drowning in his own hair."

"Well that's appropriate," Gabriel commented with a roll of his eyes. "You sure?"

"Positive," came the confirmation.

"Ok. Tomorrow night then we kill ourselves a werewolf."

\---

Dean supposed he shouldn't be surprised at the knock on the door at just after nine in the morning. When he and Madison had returned to her apartment four hours previously she had called into work and said she was staying home sick. Now, after three more hours of sleep, she was dressed in sweatpants and making sarcastic jibes as she and Dean watched the news, coffee in hand. At the knock at shy smile spread across her face and she placed the coffee cup down, motioning at the angel to stay put before heading to the door. Dean watched her go curiously and then stood with a smile as she returned with a young red headed man with a bright soul. "Dean, this is my fiancé Robert Eldridge," she said, holding his hand gently. "Robbie, this is Dean."

"It's so nice to meet you," Dean said, shaking the young man's free hand. "I'm an old friend of Madison's and she was nice enough to let me crash at her place for a couple days while I'm searching around for my brother."

"It's a pleasure to meet you at well," Robert replied, not a hint of jealousy hidden in his being. "A friend of Maddy's is a friend of mine."

"Thank you," Dean replied with a genuine smile. As far as he could tell, Madison had chosen a wonderful young man who loved her more than life itself. "I'm going to head out to do a little more checking for my brother and I'll be out of your apartment by supper time Maddy."

"You don't have to," Madison protested, her expression fond and sad.

"I'm sorry Madison," he apologized. "I'd love to stay but I need to find my brother and I'm sure Robert here would love to have you back. I'll come visit some time when everything is all sorted out. I'll even drag Sam over so you guys can catch up."

"Ok," Madison replied with a soft smile. "If I don't see you before you go, travel safely."

"Thank you," Dean told her sincerely, shook hands with Robert once more, and left the apartment with a fond smile. He could go safely now. Madison was in good hands and Gordon Walker was going to wake up in a Louisiana bayou with a massive headache. That was a job well done and now he was free to continue the search for Michael.


	9. Chaos and Confusion

They landed with less grace than a beached whale, which was a testament to the speed Michael had whisked them away considering the fact that he had landed completely silently behind Lucifer. Sam crashed to the floor with a yelp and scrambled upright a little faster than Michael managed to. That was because he had help though. Alastair pulled him up, careful to avoid even brushing the wings. "Still in one piece?" the demon questioned.

"Mostly," Sam replied, studying Michael out of the corner of his eye. His broken wing still ached and he didn't have the power to heal it; at least as much as it could be healed.

"What happened?" Alastair inquired.

"Lucifer," Sam whispered as if the very mention of the name would call his nightmare to the bar and Alastair winced. "He, well apparently he found me."

"You flew."

"Yeah," Sam agreed ruefully. "But that isn't going to be a problem anymore." Michael was watching them both with a bemused expression that had turned dark when Sam mentioned his injury in passing. Alastair's hand hovered over Sam's injured wing but didn't touch. He knew better than that.

"I could fix it if you wish," Michael suggested hesitantly. 

Sam wasn't sure how to respond. Before the events surrounding Lucifer's fall and his own agonizing plummet into Hell he would have trusted his oldest brother with his life. The plummet and his following disgrace had changed him. Lucifer had ripped out his outer two sets of wings, making the initial fall agonizing. Then, when Alastair and others had him chained to the rack they had torn into the set left, leaving the wings injured and Sam feeling vulnerable and wary about letting anyone even brush against them. His closest brothers couldn't so much as touch a feather and Alastair knew better than to even attempt to touch a wing.

His hesitation must have seemed like a refusal because Michael said, "It's okay Samael. You don't have to let me." Sam watched helplessly as his oldest brother turned towards the bar to return to whatever job he'd left to confront Lucifer. Sam ran a trembling hand through his hair, trying to figure out what to say to fix this. Maybe he didn't exactly trust his older brother after what had happened the last time they'd met but he did at least owe Michael an explanation. If his oldest brother hadn't shown up when he did then Lucifer probably would have ended up killing Sam.

"It isn't you," he said finally. "Not really." Michael turned back, expression almost puzzled. 

Alastair glanced between the two angels and then said, "I'm going out to see if I can get in contact with Meg."

" _Alastair_ ," Sam protested and the demon smirked at him before leaving the bar. Sam stared after him, torn between irritation and self-depreciation. Of course Alastair would leave him alone with Michael even though the demon had promised not to. Demons lied.

"You don't have to explain," Michael said, tearing Sam away from that train of thought.

"I know," Sam admitted. "That doesn't mean I'm not going to try anyway." Michael nodded hesitantly and Sam took that as a signal to continue. "This isn't really about you. I just don't let people touch my wings. It isn't personal." 

"Thank you Sam," Michael said calmly. "But you're wrong. It is my fault. When Lucifer threw you down I believed the worst of you and then, after father left Heaven, I continued to do so even when you tried to tell me the truth. I was selfish and unwilling to believe you were being truthful because if I was wrong about you that could mean I could be wrong about throwing Lucifer into the Cage or believing the time for the apocalypse was soon despite our father's silence. For that I caused you years of torture and I am sorry."

Sam felt struck by the outpouring of words. Over the years he'd thought he'd been thrown back by sheer spite, or maybe by his father's will, and now learning the truth it felt as if a weight had suddenly slipped off his shoulders. His brother had been _scared_ and Sam understood that more than anyone else. "It's okay," he said softly, his voice surprisingly reassuring. "I forgive you." Michael's face were creased in confusion.

"How can you?" he asked.

"Because," Sam returned gently. "I understand fear more than maybe anyone else. I don't blame you." He flinched in surprise then when Michael pulled him into a hug. He stayed stiff for a moment and then relaxed hesitantly. Michael released him moments later seeming almost awkward.

"I am sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean-"

"It's okay," Sam interrupted, shifting uncomfortably. 

There was an awkward pause and then Michael said, "Let me heal you. _Please_." Sam hesitated, wings completely still as he considered his options. He could still say no but not being able to fly left him vulnerable should Lucifer decided to attack. Now that Lucifer had found Sam once there was guarantee that his icy older brother would keep his distance. The only disadvantage was that he'd have to let Michael touch his wings. The unbroken one twitched nervously at that idea but Sam set his jaw and made his decision.

"Ok."

"You're sure," Michael prodded and Sam nodded stiffly. His agreement didn't stop Sam from flinching when his oldest brother placed a gentle hand against the injured wing. There was a wave of grace, as gentle as a tiny lapping ocean wave brushing against bare feet, that washed over the injured appendage and then Sam flinched again as an abrupt wash of pain snapped over him before bones grew back together and then blessed relief. Sam let out a breath as only the old aches and pains sunk back in, leaving him with at least the capability for flight. "Better?" Michael questioned, stepping back to give his younger brother some room.

"As good as it ever gets," Sam responded with a rueful shrug, regretting his statement instantly at the pained expression that crossed Michael's face. "I'm sorry. I didn't think."

"It's okay Sam," Michael replied gently. "It isn't your fault. You were just being honest."

"But I-"

Sam actually jumped when Michael's hand was pressed firmly over his mouth. He tried to back away so he could finish his sentence but a hand on his shoulder easily kept him in place. Michael was talking but Sam's mind had fell into a low buzz of panic. He was trapped with no way to escape, his body practically vibrating with panic. Hands shook him lightly and he sucked in a ragged gasp. His knees buckled and he sunk to the ground only to be pulled into a tight hug, a hand gentle stroking through his hair. Slowly he calmed, reality filtering back in.

"It's okay Sam," Michael was murmuring softly. "You're safe." Sam sucked in another shuddering breath, forcing his mind back into the present.

"Sorry," he mumbled, pulling in another hitching breath.

"It isn't your fault," Michael soothed. "My mistake."

"It's not-"

"Sam," Michael interrupted firmly. "Get this through your head now; this isn't your fault and it never was. Don't apologize for what's been done to you." Sam nodded warily and Michael smiled softly, ruffling his hair and then standing, pulling Sam to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sam agreed tiredly.

"The touchy feely stuff all finished?" Alastair commented wryly from the doorway and Sam scowled at the demon. "Because your idiot brother ran into trouble with a werewolf."

"Which one?" Sam asked warily.

"Guess."

" _Gabriel_."

\---

"Gabriel if we get out of this I'm feeding you to the next monster we run into."

"Okay, okay," Gabriel grumbled, stumbling down the tunnel after Balthazar. "I get it."

"No," Balthazar ground out between gritted teeth. "You don't." Gabriel tripped into his back and he growled as the extra weight caused him to trip into a muddy wall. They'd chased the werewolf back into his hiding hole where they'd suddenly shifted from the hunter to the hunted. That shouldn't have been possible seeing that they were both angels but the tunnels were cramped and twisted and it gave the werewolf a distinct advantage that they were bumbling into each other. "I am not joking," he grumbled, shoving off the wall and spitting mud out of his mouth.

"Sure, sure," Gabriel shot back, turning back to look the way they'd come. "You think he followed us?"

"No idea," Balthazar shot back. "But we have a bigger problem."

"What?"

"There's a fork in the road."

"Please tell me that this is like the Muppets and there is a literal fork in the road," Gabriel pleaded, turning his eyes skyward, or at least toward the ceiling on the tunnel.

"What?"

"Never mind," Gabriel grumbled. "So we split up?"

"Yes," Balthazar agreed. "That's exactly what we do."

\---

Sam really did not like tunnels. These in particular reminded him of Hell, the darkness and the constant feeling on confinement pressing against his borrowed skin. He shuddered and pressed further into the tunnel, straining his angelic vision against the dark. A low howl sounded behind him and he spun as best he could in the confined space, eyes searching for movement. For a moment there was nothing. Then gold eyes blinked from the dark, there was a scratching sound, and Sam bolted. He could hear the werewolf behind him as he scrambled around a corner. He was so concerned with putting space between himself and the creature that he didn't notice the other figure until he slammed into them.

Arms snapped around him, holding him up as he lost his balance and sweeping him out of the way of the oncoming werewolf. The creature lunged, there was a blinding flash of grace, and then Sam found himself blinking rapidly as his eyes struggled to adjust. "Balthazar?" he questioned hesitantly, leaning carefully against the muddy wall so as not to reinjure his wings.

"The one and only," came the wry reply and Sam found himself grinning. "So what's new?"

"Well," Sam said hesitantly, shoving himself off the wall. "I kind of found Michael."

"Kind of?"

"I did," Sam corrected irritably.

"That's good," Balthazar commented dryly and Sam snorted.

"Also Lucifer found me."

"And that's not so good."

"Understatement of the century," Sam replied. "But I'm still alive and he hasn't showed up yet so for now we're relatively safe."

"Right then," Balthazar said easily, carefully slipping an arm around Sam's shoulders. "Let's go catch up with your idiot brother and tell him the good news."

" _My_ idiot brother?" Sam stressed irritably even as he allowed his older brother to pull him along. "He's _your_ brother too!"

\---

Gabriel tripped over another rock, crashed down to the muddy ground, and let loose a stream of curses that would do a drunken semi driver proud. "I didn't remember you being so foul mouthed," a dry voice commented and Gabriel flipped over so that he was lying in the mud glaring up at the tunnel ceiling. A familiar grace nudged at his own and he let a smirk cross his face.

"Nice to see you again Mikey." Gabriel didn't have to be looking at his older brother to see the wince that crossed the oldest archangel's face at the use of the hated nickname. "What brings you down here?"

"Just the usual," Michael answered blithely. "Sam, a demon, and an annoying younger brother."

" _Hey_ ," Gabriel whined before the sentence fully sunk in. "Wait a minute! Sam and _Alastair_ found you?"

"Yes," Michael answered, confused about where this was going. Gabriel beamed as he scrambled to his feet, willing the mud away with his grace.

"I wish I could have been a bug on the wall for that conversation."

"I do not," Michael said flatly but there was a spark in his eyes that suggested he was amused.

"Neither do I," a new voice chimed in and Gabriel turned to grin at his younger brother. "It was stressful enough without you snickering in the background." Sam looked a little worse for wear with dark circles under his eyes and a careworn appearance. He wasn't the only one who had noticed, judging by the way Balthazar was hovering silently behind Sam like some kind of guardian angel.

"The werewolf's dead," Balthazar said and Gabriel nodded but his concerned eyes were fixed on Sam. His younger brother's entire body was swaying, a wavering hand stretching out towards the tunnel wall before his legs buckled and he plummeted towards the ground. Balthazar caught him inches before he hit the floor but it didn't matter because Sam was thrashing and screaming like he was chained to the rack and despite his panicked efforts there was nothing he could do about it.


	10. The Disgraced and The Cast Out

_"Oh Sammy, Sammy, Sammy. Did you think you could just walk away from me and everything would be okay?" Lucifer was circling Sam's trembling frame like a predator simply waiting for the correct time to go in for the kill. "You should know better than that." Sam wanted to retort that he did but his mouth refused to work. This dream was under Lucifer's control and his older brother didn't want him to say a word; not that he'd be able to even if he had the ability. Sam knew fear perhaps better than any other Heavenly being alive but somehow Lucifer evoked the worst of it in him; the paralyzing terror, the breathless anxiety, the way the walls seemed to close in even when he kept his distance._

_"Join me Sam," Lucifer cooed, placing a gentle hand under his younger brother's chin. "Together we can regain what was stolen from us."_

_"N-no." It was the only word Sam could manage to stammer out. He could bring himself to say that it was Lucifer who had cost him everything, couldn't throw insults or snarl out his own ultimatum. He was trapped instead, tied up inside his own terror and in Lucifer's dream world._

_"No?" Lucifer questioned lightly, hand slipping away, and Sam forced himself to nod. Lucifer smiled then, cruelly, and brushed a hand against his shoulder. Sam found himself screaming, pain washing in waves across his body. The pain faded away after what felt like years but Sam, after so long in Hell, knew time was nothing more than an illusion. Minutes could feel like years, years like nothing more than a couple seconds._

_Lucifer was smiling; so beautifully cruel that it hurt to look at. Father's most beautiful child turned twisted and wrong. There was another barely there touch, this time across Sam's forehead, and he was screaming again. Screaming until he's sure his throat was bleeding. When it stopped again Sam gasped raggedly for breath as Lucifer circled him like a shark who smells blood in the water. "What is it going to take?" he choked out when he could finally breathe again. Lucifer cocked his head, confused._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"What is it going to take?" Sam repeated. "To appease you. The destruction of the entire world? The systematic killing of every single one of our brothers and sisters? What is it going to take?" Lucifer seemed genuinely contemplative, as if he hadn't really considered anything in his blind rage. For a moment Sam saw a flash of hopelessness on his brother's face. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished._

_"Nothing less than my due," Lucifer sneered and another brush of his fingers, this time against Sam's throat, had Sam screaming again. When he could finally stop again his throat was so raw he could barely manage to pull in enough air to breathe._

_"And," he gasped out. "What is your due?"_

_"I have been wronged little brother. I have been cast out because father loved those hairless apes more than he loved us."_

_"Then you've learned nothing Lucifer," Sam interrupted, forcing himself to his feet. "You've missed the point of your lesson."_

_"What lesson?" Lucifer demanded, abruptly losing some of his charm. "Thousands of years locked inside a prison without even word of my brothers for comfort watching those pathetic mud monkeys scrambling about for their own selfish purposes. What was I supposed to learn from that?"_

_"You tell me," Sam replied, defeated and resigned. Part of him had hoped that maybe Lucifer had changed during his centuries in the Cage but it seemed that was not to be. Lucifer reached out a hand again, apparently tired of the conversation already, and someone else's grace wrapped firmly around him. Sam couldn't resist the urge to struggle against Michael's hold, even though he knew from experience exactly how useless his fighting was. He felt himself being dragged backwards and out of whatever hold Lucifer had on him and allowed his frame to still._

\---

Balthazar watched as the oldest archangel in existence pulled Sam out of whatever nightmare Lucifer had shoved him into. Sam was gasping, panting for breath like someone who'd been starved of it. Balthazar cradled his younger brother gently, still holding him the same way he'd caught him. Sam's eyes fluttered as Michael pulled away, looking a strange mixture of guilt and relief and hurt. "Sam?" he asked cautiously as the hazel eyes of his vessel snapped open.

"Yeah," the youngest archangel gasped out. "It's me."

"Who else would it be?" Gabriel commented wryly as Balthazar helped the younger angel up.

"Lucifer." Sam's voice was tired, as if mentioning the inevitable. "If he-" Sam swallowed then, pausing for a moment as if to get himself under control. He was trembling slightly, whether from fear or residual pain Balthazar couldn't tell. "If he kills me in the dream world I think he kills me in reality as well. And he'll probably take my vessel." Then he turned toward Michael and seemed to shrink in on himself. "Sorry about that."

"It isn't your fault," Michael replied and Balthazar found himself wondering what exactly they were talking about. Gabriel seemed to know, which only made him feel further out of the loop. He'd left Heaven before Gabriel and had gone so deeply undercover that he realized he had no idea what had happened while he was hiding.

"I am definitely missing something," he said at last, breaking the tension as best he could.

"I was feeling threatened," Michael said, shuffling awkwardly.

"And that means what exactly?" Balthazar pushed.

"I may or may not have destroyed the Roman Empire," Sam admitted, looking just as awkward as Michael did. Balthazar just stared. The Roman Empire had been powerful and its downfall rather abrupt but he had never expected angelic involvement, let alone Samael's. Samael was an angel of death, normally gentle and soft spoken. He had never been one to act out like this. "I had just crawled out of Hell and I needed to do something to redeem myself."

"I overreacted," Michael continued. "And refused to listen. I cast him back down."

_Oh_. It struck Balthazar somewhere in his chest; both Sam's pained flinch and Michael's hopelessly guilty expression. He remembered now how Gabriel had mentioned that both Lucifer and Michael had cast Sam down into Hell. He hadn't put much thought into that, busier considering how damaged Sam had been from a trip to Hell.

"Are we done now?" The wry voice belonged to a demon wearing a blonde man. Sam straightened immediately, the set of his mouth changing in a way Balthazar couldn't quite name.

"Yes Alastair, we're finished. The werewolf is dead, the town is saved, and we can go back to focusing on the apocalypse," Sam said with a barely suppressed eye roll. The demon smirked but Balthazar was still caught on the name. He may have hidden from Heaven for centuries but that didn't mean he hadn't heard the occasional sneering from demons about Hell. And he knew exactly who was standing at the entrance to one of the tunnels; Hell's Master Torturer.

"Good," Alastair said calmly, motioning with his head back the way he'd came. "Shall we?"

"No," Gabriel snarked. "We're just going to spend the rest of the apocalypse down here."

"Count me out then," the demon snarked back. "This reminds me too much of Hell."

"Seconded," Sam chimed in, tiredly amused. "Besides, Meg would come down to murder us all if we stayed here and left her and Dean with fixing this."

"She could try," Alastair said coolly but he appeared equally amused. "Come with me?" The demon offered Sam his hand and Balthazar watched as his brother hesitated only a moment before taking the demon's offered hand. There was a crack, the smell of sulfur, and then they were both gone, leaving the others to escape the twisted tunnels on their own.

\---

Dean was unsurprised by Meg's sudden appearance in the coffee shop. She seemed to like places like these; small, artsy hole-in-the-wall coffee shops that specialized in poetry readings and mellow sounding jazz. She settled next to him, short blonde hair swishing around her face, and peered into the crowd. "So innocent, aren't they?" she questioned. "So naïve. They have no idea what's coming."

"No," he agreed. "They don't." He was surprised to find he almost liked the she demon. She was, by turns, sympathetic and sarcastic. She may not have held great affection for humanity but neither did she hate them.

"Alastair's coming," she said after they sat a moment in silence. "He didn't specify why; just called and told me to find you and meet you somewhere he could find us."

"Great," Dean grumbled. "Hopefully it isn't more bad news." Meg just shrugged and turned her attention back to the humans. Moments later two familiar figures walked through the front door. The first one was Alastair, practically dripping with darkness and hellfire in Dean's angelic vision, and the other one Sam. Sam alive and as well as he could be crossing the coffee shop to pull Dean into a hug. And for the moment, in the midst of the coming apocalypse, it was enough.

\---

There had once been a church, before Lucifer had risen and wreaked havoc on it. Now it was a pile of rubble; Lucifer's wrath taken form after the escape of his siblings. A man stood outside the church. He was unshaven and clutching a bottle of alcohol in one hand. That was just for show. On the inside he was blazing. He stared at the church, watched it shake. Fifteen minutes later he was gone. Ten minutes after that a figure in a trenchcoat clambered out of the wreckage, studied his surroundings, and considered his next move. 


	11. Refreshing News

"I found Michael." Those were the first words out of Sam's mouth the instant he sat down in the booth across from Meg, who had scooted further in. Alastair trapped the younger archangel in but Sam didn't seem too worried about it so Dean let that be for the time being. Instead he focused on the words. He wasn't sure whether he should be congratulating his brother or apologizing to him.

"Congratulations?" he asked tentatively and Sam snorted. "I'm assuming it went okay since you're still alive."

"Lucifer found us," Sam admitted, flinching as if the name itself would bring the Devil out of hiding. "Michael stepped in, otherwise I wouldn't be here." Dean winced and Sam nodded. "He hasn't shown his face again but I don't think we have much time before he finds me."

"We have Michael though," Dean said, trying to cheer his brother up. "Everything will be fine."

"Yeah," Meg cut in dryly. "They'll only destroy the world in the process but you'll be perfectly fine."

"Oh," Dean said, sidelined by the demon. "I didn't think of that."

"Well you wouldn't, would you?" Meg sneered. "It isn't your problem."

"Meg, I like you, I really do," he admitted while Sam watched with tired, resigned amusement. "But sometimes you can be a real bitch."

"Just doing my job," she shot back cheerily and he snorted.

"Guys," Sam said, his voice suddenly filled with trepidation. "We may have a problem."

"What?" Dean demanded, suddenly on alert as he and Meg leaned closer to the disgraced archangel.

"Blonde hair, blue eyes, male, standing in the street watching us," Sam said softly, purposefully not looking at the window. Meg faked a laugh and leaned back so she could glance in that direction.

"Late twenties, early thirties?" she asked and Sam nodded with a forced smile. "Who is he?"

"Guess," Sam said, eyes wide with terror.

" _Lucifer_?" Meg hissed incredulously and Dean had to force himself to not to look. "How did he find us?"

"He has a lock on me," Sam answered, expression tired and helpless. "He's tracking me somehow." There was a pause and the youngest archangel swallowed hard before adding, "You two need to leave me."

"What?" Meg demanded even as Dean said, "No way!" Leaving Sam at this point in time was akin to handing over a death sentence, something that Dean would never be willing to do to his brother.

"Listen to me," Sam hissed urgently. "I'll be able to distract Lucifer so that you can get away."

"He'll kill you," Dean protested as Meg cast another seemingly casual glance toward the window.

"Not right away," Sam returned with forced calm. "He wants me to join him willingly. He won't kill me until he's sure there's no chance I'll do so. _Please_ , you have to do this. Go to Michael and tell him what happened." Sam placed a light hand over Dean's tensed one, effortlessly passing on the location of their allies. "Stay safe," he said, determination written all over his face before he was up and striding toward the door. Dean lunged up to follow but Meg grabbed his arm, forcing him to a stop with all the strength she could muster and Alastair shook his head minutely, a warning to stay put. The angel could only watch helplessly as his brother walked out of the coffee shop to confront his worst nightmare.

\---

Castiel was confused. The building around him was in ruins, torn to pieces by some sort of supernatural force, and he was standing alone and unharmed in the wreckage. He didn't remember how he'd gotten here but he had the nagging feeling he shouldn't be alone. That there should have been brothers searching frantically for him. Regardless a voice was screaming in his head that it wasn't safe to stay here and he needed to get out. Castiel moved to spread his wings and fly away only to realize his grace was gone.

Panic flooded through the former angel, heartbeat skyrocketing and breathing coming out in ragged gasps. He was alone, practically helpless, and haunted by the feeling that something was coming after him. He stumbled a few steps over the rubble and then tripped over something and crashed to the ground. He found his form draped over a dead body, one with dark hair and a bloody knife wound in her chest. He let out a terrified cry and scrambled away from the body, sprinting flat out away from the church and hoping desperately that whatever killed her didn't decide to come after him.

\---

"Did you come to your senses Sammy boy?" Lucifer asked when Sam approached him. Sam didn't answer, keeping out of arms reach even though he knew it wouldn't do him any good. Silently he prayed that his brother and Meg would escape. Despite himself, he was genuinely fond of the mouthy demon. She was one of the few who'd been curious instead of eager to tear into him and a reluctant friendship, if it could be called that, had grown between the pair of them.

"I'm not here to join you," he said, unable to put any venom behind the words.

"Then why?" Never let it be said Lucifer wasn't curious. Actually that was part of the reason Lucifer had been thrown into the Cage in the first place. His curiosity had led him to twist Lilith into the first demon, as well as finding out about humans before he was supposed to and getting the wrong general idea about them.

"I need to understand," Sam said honestly, forcing himself to look into his brother's eyes. "I need to know why you're doing this." Lucifer hesitated, studying his younger brother intently. " _Please_ ," Sam begged tiredly. "I just want to understand."

"Fine," Lucifer said at last, reaching out a hand toward Sam. "But not here." Sam's muscles tensed but he allowed the hand to reach his arm, allowed his brother to pull him away and prayed he'd survive long enough to see the end of this.

\---

_"Look out!" Castiel spun even as a flare of corrupted grace blazed behind him and a sword stabbed straight through his chest. His mouth opened in a silent scream as he felt his being burning inside his vessel, blazing and threatening to burn out. Then he was being pulled free, wrapped up in warmth he barely remembered from his creation, and being protected even as Lucifer turned towards his absent siblings._

Castiel jolted out of sleep, gasping for breath as memory washed over him. Lucifer had killed him in front of his brothers. They thought he was dead. He felt as if his whole world was crumbling around him. He had no grace, no way of contacting his brothers, he was supposed to be _dead_ , and Lucifer was free to wreak his homicidal fury on the world. For a moment he let himself drown in panic. Then he forced himself to calm down.

He needed to get into contact with his brothers. He couldn't just let them continue to believe that he was dead; killed by Lucifer's hand. He might be human again but he was alive and that would abate some of the guilt that he knew had to be haunting them when they stopped to think. There were only three people, or at least creatures masquerading as people, that he could guess would be around his brothers. He didn't want to attempt summoning Meg or Alastair and pulling them out of a potentially dangerous situation. Furthermore, he wasn't sure he trusted either of them. That left Bobby.

Bobby Singer had been a second father to Castiel and Gabriel when they'd been nothing more than human, not remembering that they had once been angels that had chosen to fall to Earth. If there was anyone who would know how to contact Gabriel, aside from one of his brothers or the two earlier mentioned demons, it would be Bobby. Now all Castiel had to do was call.


	12. Breath of Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So quick note before we begin... La Jolla, California is a real place. It's a city right along the coastline (and if you Google it you'll get lots of pretty pictures). The houses/apartments/ect are all squished together but when you reach one part of the coast there's a really pretty park where people walk their dogs or hang out and a sidewalk that goes along the coastline/small cliffside.

Chuck was smiling. So far everything was going according to plan. Castiel had woken with all his memories intact but, for the time being, without his grace, Dean and Meg had returned to the others, and Samael was speaking with Lucifer. If there was anyone who had a chance of reaching his wayward son, it was Samael. Samael; the only stain in Lucifer's otherwise clean plan. The little brother that wasn't supposed to be involved. The one that got in the way. The one clear regret Lucifer seemed to have through the whole ordeal. Chuck simply hoped that this was the plan that would work and not one of the several other options, all hinging on Lucifer's actions.

\---

Bobby Singer had seen a lot of things in his years as a hunter of all things supernatural; not least of them finding out that two boys he helped raise were really angels who chose to cut out their grace and come to Earth. He'd even seen someone be raised up from dead. What he hadn't ever expected was to see Castiel again. He'd been told, before the angels had split apart to search for Michael, that angels simply burned up when they died. That no one short of God could bring an angel back to life.

Now, once again, Castiel was back from the dead and sitting in his kitchen, this time with a half empty bottle of beer. Bobby was on the phone trying to get into contact with angels that had currently abandoned him in an effort to keep him safe from Lucifer. It wasn't going well. So far Sam's phone had been disconnected, not that Bobby was surprised since Lucifer was bound to be specifically targeting the youngest archangel, Gabriel's voicemail was full, and Alastair wasn't answering. That left Meg.

The demon visited from time to time, changing her vessel with alarming frequency for safety's sake but never changing her attitude and always switching back to her original vessel. She had left a phone number during her last report and Bobby was now waiting to see if she'd answer. "Hello?" He bit back a sigh of relief when she finally picked up, ridiculously relieved that she wasn't dead.

"Hello Meg," Bobby replied. "You around our friends?"

"Yes," Meg replied, sounding confused. "Why?"

"Because I need to have a chat with at least one of them and none of them are answering their phones."

"Oh," Meg said, sounding amused. " _Gabriel_!"

" _What_?" Bobby heard someone reply.

"Come answer the phone," Meg demanded and moments later he heard it change hands.

"Hello?"

"Gabriel," Bobby said, half annoyed and half amused. "Answer your damn phone."

"I uh… Well I kind of dropped it in a puddle," Gabriel said awkwardly and Bobby snorted. All powerful archangel and he still managed to drop his cell in the nearest body of water at the most inconvenient time. It figured. "What do you need?"

"Somebody came back from the dead again," he replied and was greeted with stunned silence.

"You're kidding, right?" Gabriel asked after a moment, sounding cautiously hopeful.

"No," Bobby said flatly and heard the angel on the other end of the line suck in a gasp. "Gabriel are you okay?"

"Yeah," came the reply. "Yeah, I'm good. It's just…Do you know what this _means_?"

"Oh course not you idjit! I'm still trying to figure out how someone manages to come back from the dead not once but twice."

"It means," Gabriel continued, undeterred, "that somewhere out there Dad's still watching what's going on. Tell Cassie we're in Ohio at his least favorite coffee shop in the world. We'll be waiting." Then he hung up the phone. Bobby shook his head at that and turned to give Castiel the good news.

\---

Sam didn't know what he'd expected when he'd let Lucifer pull him away. Maybe torture or even Hell. Not a park in California, La Jolla to be precise. The two of them were leaned against the railing gazing down at the ocean crashing against the rocks as a cool breeze washed over their skin. "You have questions," the rogue archangel said. "Ask."

"Why are you doing this?" Sam questioned, keeping his eyes on the turbulent water below.

"Dad made those pathetic apes and claimed they were better than us," Lucifer sneered. "That they were more than us who had served Him unswervingly since the dawn up time. He expected us to bow down to a flawed creation and I will not consent to be degraded like that."

"You don't understand Lucifer," Sam replied. "Father never said they were better than us. Instead He told us to serve them and help them become like Him. You and your curiosity led you to find out before your time and make the wrong assumptions."

"Then why would He lock me away? I proved a threat to His dictatorship and His ideals," Lucifer sneered.

"You wouldn't listen," Sam protested. "How many of our brothers did you kill with your pride Lucifer? How many more will you destroy in your vain search for vengeance?"

"As many as it takes," Lucifer hissed, voice suddenly dangerously close. Sam tried to flinch away only to find himself shoved almost entirely across the railing. "I thought you of all angels would understand Samael. You who have been so wronged by Heaven."

"I was wronged by you. You cast me down because of your pride, your refusal to listen to the truth. It will be your downfall if you persist in this path."

"I did not wrong you. I simply attempted to show you the truth."

"You threw me towards torture without bothering to look back all because I attempted to bring you back into the fold."

"I am sorry that you cannot see the light Samael." Lucifer's voice was a mockery of sadness and Sam knew with a sudden desperate surety that he had wasted his chance to reason with his older brother. "You have only one use to me now. You will draw Michael in and I will destroy him."

"I will never consent to helping you," Sam spat even though he knew he had no choice in the matter.

"That's too bad. It would be so much easier on everyone involved if you decided to cooperate." Then the hand Lucifer was using to pin him down shoved him hard and Sam found himself falling, crashing toward the rocks below with no time to open his damaged wings.

\---

Castiel's grace was not coming back. That had made the trip to Ohio take hours rather than seconds and left him in a bad mood as he entered the coffee shop. He and Gabriel had found this particular joint two years ago while they were in town investigating what they'd thought was an unquiet spirit. Instead it had been a shapeshifter that had almost killed Gabriel and sliced Castiel's arm up bad enough that they'd actually had to go to a hospital. While stuck in town they'd also discovered a coffee shop that sold the worst coffee he'd ever tasted. It was something akin to drinking motor oil colored sludge and they'd christened it the Worst Coffee Shop in the World. It was called Lizzie's Café and it was in decidedly worse shape than it had been the last time the Novak brothers had been in town.

"Cassie! You're alive!" He was almost tackled off his feet when Gabriel scrambled away from the table his friends were sitting at to hug him. Castiel hugged him back carefully. Then Gabriel pulled away and frowned. "Where's your grace?"

"I do not know," he replied, allowing his older brother to pull him across the dingy floor of the empty café. "I woke up at the church without it."

"Well that's just great," Meg drawled from where she was sitting crammed up by the ugly olive green wall. "We're in the middle of the apocalypse with Lucifer trying to destroy the world and God helps us by bringing back a depowered angel."

"Perhaps not," a new voice said and Castiel turned to see a blonde man stand and offer him a grin. "Mind if I check?" Castiel considered the man, trying to place the tone before turning a puzzled from on Gabriel.

"Balthazar," Gabriel filled in and Castiel sighed before turning to the other angel and nodded. Balthazar placed two fingers lightly against Castiel's forehead, eyes closing for a moment as he scanned the younger angel.

"Just deeply suppressed for now," Balthazar reported with a grin. "It should come back sooner or later."

"First good news all day," Meg drawled, offering Castiel a sardonic smile.

"Mind filling me in on what is going on?" he asked her. "And where Sam and Alastair are."

"We don't know where Sam is," Meg admitted, her expression darkening. "He went with Lucifer so Dean, Alastair, and I could escape. Michael and Alastair are searching for any sign of the two of them while the rest of us waited to see if you really were alive."

" _Michael_?" Castiel pressed and the demon nodded. "Who found him?"

"Sam and Alastair, ironically enough." Castiel winced at that and Meg snickered at the expression on his face as Balthazar settled back in his seat.

"Good to have you back Cas," Dean spoke up from his place across from Balthazar. Castiel nodded once to him, noting how tired the other angel looked.

"Why don't you fill him in on what you learned while he was dead?" Meg prodded and the scowl Dean gave her was nothing short of ferocious.

"There's a prophet," he admitted grudgingly, looking none too pleased about the idea."

"How is this a bad thing?" Castiel questioned curiously.

"He's publishing books about our lives," Dean snapped. "And furthermore Raph's guarding him so we can't even question him about what's going to happen next or where Sam is. We'll register as threats and Raphael will do his best to destroy us all."

"No," Castiel replied, a sudden idea hitting him like a lightning bolt on a clear day. " _You all_ would register as threats. _I_ wouldn't. Not anymore."

"That's brilliant," Gabriel said, beaming. "You could go ask Chuck where Sam is and Raph shouldn't suspect a thing."

"Chuck?"

"Yeah, we know," Dean drawled. "Stupid name for a prophet. Furthermore Sam went and saw him earlier and said he was a little underwhelming."

"Where's he at?"

"Michigan. Just outside a small town called Westbrook. And Cas?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't do anything stupid. If it looks like this isn't going to work then get out of there. We can't lose you again."

"I'll be careful," Castiel promised, heading for the door. It looked like he was going to have to hotwire a car just so he could save a sibling. Again. Hopefully this went better than the last time he'd had to do that.


	13. Lucifer's Wrath

Sam woke up alone and in pain; never a good combination. He tried to shift position and then winced as chains jangled, instantly drawing his mind toward Hell and all that it entailed. He pulled his arm down to study the chains, trying to push down the panic and focus. The symbols burned on the silver cuffs were ancient Enochian and it had been so long since he'd read Enochian that for a moment his mind rebelled, refusing to translate. He shook off the blockage and instead focused on the writing. They were bindings specifically designed to dampen his powers almost to the point of nonexistence, not that they weren't already there, and prevent him from breaking free. The panic started up again then and he jerked against the chains, making them jangle.

"Oh Sammy, I wouldn't be doing that," a voice cooed and Sam jerked his head around to see a woman with short blonde curls dressed almost boyishly in black jeans and a man's button up white shirt rolled up at the sleeves. Sam frowned slightly studying the demon beneath that skin and then sucking in a surprised gasp.

"Asmodeus," he said. "You made it out of the Pit then." This particular demon had been one of his first tormentors, as well as being one of Lilith's favorite siblings, and was a frequent participant in Sam's more vivid nightmares. The trapped archangel had hoped to never see him again.

"Just in time to rip into you," the demon purred, placing hands on slender hips and smirking. The body language was all wrong for a female but that was because the demon tended toward male forms. "You see, Lucifer wants you nice and bloody when big brother shows up."

"Excuse me if I'm not impressed," Sam retorted with false bravery. "I had Alastair working on me for a while. Compared to that you're still in kindergarten." Asmodeus snarled but Sam ignored it, even as the first blade bit into his skin. The demon was only half the torturer Alastair had been. He could easily survive this without screaming. He had to; he wouldn't give Lucifer the satisfaction of hearing him beg.

\---

Castiel approached the house with more than a little trepidation. If there really was a prophet here and Raphael really was on guard duty then one flare of his dormant grace would call the archangel's wrath down on him and he would be dead again. He lifted a shaking hand and was about to rap on the door when it swung inward, revealing a man with bruises under his eyes that spoke of sleepless nights and the smell of alcohol hanging around his person. "Chuck?" Castiel asked tentatively.

"Castiel," the man replied, his voice far more knowledgeable than any man's voice had a right to be. For a moment Castiel hesitated, then he followed Chuck into the house. His hands were shaking, inexplicably, as he settled on an arm of a couch covered in sheets of paper.

"I suppose you have questions," the prophet said. Castiel nodded. He did have questions. He wanted to know where God was, he wanted to know why he'd been brought back to life, he wanted to know how he could get his grace back. He wanted to ask so many things but right now there was only one question that mattered.

"Where is Samael?" 

Chuck studied Castiel for a moment and then nodded, as if he suddenly understood something. Then the man leaned forward to whisper an address in Castiel's ear. "You must hurry," Chuck said. "There isn't much time." Then he looked at Castiel once more, as if seeing straight through the human vessel to the angel beneath. Chuck nodded again, as if satisfied, and reached out to touch a finger to Castiel's forehead. All at once the angel felt his grace rush back to full strength and his skin blazed. Castiel cried out in terror, already feeling Raphael descending. Then Chuck tapped his forehead again and he felt himself being pulled away, his memories of what had just happened already fading in his mind.

\---

Raphael landed with a rustle of feathers. He had chosen an African-American man as his vessel but the disapproving look was all his son's. Chuck studied the archangel, wondering when exactly he'd gone so wrong in raising his children. First there was Lucifer who had rebelled, then Michael and Gabriel who had run away from home, Raphael who had turned to the apocalypse to attempt to bring him back. Out of them all, Samael was the one he was most proud of. His young, broken child who fought so hard to set the world right even though the chips were stacked against him. "There was an angel here," Raphael hissed, expression dark. "Who was it?"

"Raphael," Chuck chided, feeling tired and vaguely irritated. The archangel paused in his irritated rant turning to look at Chuck. For the first time since he had taken this form, the man released a part of his true form. Raphael froze, eyes going comically wide.

"Father?" the archangel asked at last and Chuck nodded once. He watched Raphael gulp slightly and back away a step like a guilty child caught in the middle of a forbidden act.

"We need to talk," Chuck said firmly, making a curling motion with his fingers. A chair whooshed across the floor and knocked into the back of Raphael's legs, sending the archangel toppling down on to it. "Have a seat. This is going to take a while."

\---

"Cas? Castiel are you okay?" Castiel forced his eyes open and found himself staring up at four concerned faces.

"You okay Cassie?" Gabriel asked and Castiel scowled at his brother for deciding on that particular nickname. Gabriel smirked down at him, as if knowing exactly why his little brother was upset with him already.

"You have your grace back," Dean said, focusing on more important details, and Cas nodded. "How?"

"I-I don't know," Castiel stammered wracking his recent memories. Instead of memories all he found was a mass of nothing, empty space. He remembered knocking on the door at Chuck's house but nothing more. "I remember getting to Chuck's house but nothing after." Balthazar reached out to brush a hand across Castiel's forehead, eyes closed in concentration.

"I think it was Dad," he said at last, brow furrowed with confusion. "But I'm not entirely sure."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gabriel demanded and Balthazar shrugged.

"It feels like him but at the same time it's different than it was before."

"Do you remember anything?" the last figure asked and Castiel turned his angelic vision on the figure only to flinch in surprise. _Michael_.

"Just an address," he replied after a moment of deep thought, pushing at the blankness in his mind as if that would give him the correct answer. "In Ohio. I think it's where Sam's at."

\---

There was a puddle of blood on the floor. If Sam tilted his head the right way he could see his battered reflection in the blood. He giggled absently, feeling lightheaded from blood loss, and turned to look at the ceiling. "What have you done?" he heard Lucifer demand and he giggled again. He had known it would end here from the start. Asmodeus knew little of torture and therefore was not very likely to keep someone alive outside the environment of Hell, which was built to allow even living beings to be killed hundreds of times over without really dying. He could hear Asmodeus's whimpering words and pleading cries but the world was fading away. Samael welcomed the coming darkness, knowing that when he reached it the pain would be no more. He would be gone, and nothing could really hurt him anymore. 


	14. Desperation

It had been a race against time to get to Sam before Lucifer extinguished him forever. Hell, the entire apocalypse was a race against time, but Dean had never expected that they would be too late to save Sam. Now, faced with his brother's still body chained and suspended in the air above a bloody floor, chest no longer rising and falling with breath, Dean felt his entire world crashing down around him. Castiel was frozen in disbelief, Gabriel shaking as he reached out to brush bloody brown curls away from the still face, and Michael? Michael had dropped to his knees in the doorway, almost as if he had known from the moment they set foot in the room that Sam was no longer alive. Their oldest brother was crying silently, head bowed and tears dripping down his face.

Alastair and Meg hovered uncertainly in the doorway behind Michael. Alastair's expression was cold and disapproving but Meg's was twisted up with hurt and anger, as if someone had broken a favorite toy of hers beyond repair. Her foot was tapping rapidly on the cement floor, as if she would have loved to do nothing more than pace into the room, slap Sam across the face, and demand he wake up this instant. Dean found himself wishing helplessly that it was that simple.

"This," Alastair said suddenly, his voice like ice. "Was not part of our deal." The angels turned to stare at him, various levels of uncomprehending.

"You can't just bring an angel back," Gabriel said, voice wavering. "It doesn't work that way."

"I know," the demon replied. "But believe it or not, our little deal was never sealed."

"Then why did you hang around?" Dean asked gruffly and got a smirk in reply.

"If you have to ask that angel, you're missing the point. Now, more importantly, there's a certain foolish demon who needs to be reminded of what happens when he steals someone else's things." Then, with a crack that sounded more like thunder and less like the usual sound of bones snapping, Alastair vanished leaving not even the scent of sulfur behind.

\---

For the first time in thousands of years Asmodeus was afraid. He had switched vessels in his bid to escape Lucifer's wrath, trading in the female for a dark haired young male, probably in his early twenties. It wasn't likely to stop Lucifer from tracking him down and ripping him limb from limb it was the only thing he could think of to do. While his Lord had been busy trying to bring his young brother back from the very grasp of Death himself, Asmodeus had fled, knowing his life would be next to go when Samael exited existence. He had failed, destroying the very being who his master had wished to keep alive, at least until Michael's arrival. That meant his life was forfeit. Now, crouching in a filthy alley, the demon cursed his very existence as well as that of Lucifer.

"Well, well, well," a voice crooned. It was icy and all too familiar from the demon's years on the rack, full of deadly promise of terrible things to come. "What do we have here? Experienced a little failure, did you?" Asmodeus turned slowly to find himself confronted with what looked like a human man with golden hair and the beginnings of a beard. The man was unassuming in this form but his true form was nothing short of pure terror.

"Alastair," he gasped out the other demon clapped twice, a wave of power sending him crashing into a wall.

"Very good, so you haven't forgotten me while you prance around pretending to be high and mighty," Alastair crooned cheerfully. "But you have gotten a good many other things, including what happens when you take other people's things."

\---

The sky had turned dark while they mourned, even Meg entering after Alastair's surprising disappearance, and now Michael stood outside staring at the stars. "Is this what You wanted?" he asked the heavens, not even pausing for an answer. "Is this what You had planned when You proclaimed that Lucifer and I would fight? First You order me to lock Lucifer away and then You tell Your prophets that he and I will fight at the end of it all." His voice wavered and he fell to his knees, pounding his knuckles against the pavement beneath him.

For a moment he thought he would be able to gain control of himself. Then the dam broke and he was sobbing helplessly and turning his head to scream at the sky. _"What am I supposed to do? Give me a sign here!"_ He sucked in a huge, shuddering breath and then buried his head in his trembling arms. "I have done everything You have ever asked of me," he said, his voice nothing more than a shaking whisper. "So tell me, what am I supposed to do to make this right?" No answer came and Michael found himself wondering if anything would ever be right in the world again.

\---

Gabriel had experienced a lot of failures in his long life but somehow this failure was worse than anything else he'd ever experienced. Probably because this was Sam. It was the same shy little fledgling who had trailed after him, desperate to avoid the arguing between Michael and Lucifer and unable to understand Raphael. Sam who had expected them all to turn on him the instant they'd gotten their graces back. Sam who had been so afraid of Lucifer yet willing to face his worst fear simply to allow Dean, Meg, and Alastair to get away safely.

They had lowered Sam's broken vessel to the floor because leaving it in chains was too hard to bare. Looking at him lying broken on the floor was almost worse. Meg was sitting next to him stroking his hair gently, as if trying to soothe a child trapped in the throes of a horrid nightmare. Once again, Gabriel found himself wondering what exactly had tied the former archangel and the demon together. She was singing, some haunting melody that he half recognized from years long gone, and while the words didn't quite reach him the notes bounced across cold cement walls and filled the room with melancholy sound.

"Where exactly did Alastair go?" Castiel asked suddenly, breaking the silence. His brother's voice was thick with unshed tears and Dean looked as if he were faring little better. Michael had exited the room an hour ago and Gabriel, when he had gone up to check and make sure the oldest of them all was unharmed, had seen him screaming at the sky.

"To deal with Asmodeus," Meg said calmly, swiping away the last of her few tears with one hand and keeping the other stroking through Sam's hair. "Alastair was rather fond of Sam here." There was silence as they considered Meg's words and the absence of sulfur during his disappearance. "Did you know that Alastair is one of the Fallen?" Meg continued. "That's part of the reason he feels for Sam. He was cast down for his cruel deeds but Sam was cast down for no reason at all. Alastair did his best to protect Sam, but Sam never knew." She smiled fondly, pressing a light, sisterly kiss against the broken vessel's forehead. "And now he never will."

"We need to move," Dean croaked a moment later, voice hoarse as if he'd been screaming. "Before Lucifer decides to come back and see if we've found his little present."

"The body?" Gabriel questioned, voice wavering.

"No time," Castiel replied. "If Lucifer regains his temper and returns he'll try to destroy us. We have to leave it here. We can return for it later." Gabriel nodded, regaining as much control as he could by reminding himself that Sam was no longer housed in the bloody body on the floor, and with a snap of his wings was gone, followed by his brothers.


	15. A Father's Duty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So aside from this story, which is beginning to creep closer and closer to its end, I have another bit of backstory that I can finally post. It has three parts so I'll post one a day (meaning it will be finished on Wednesday). Enjoy!

They sat in uncomfortable silence and Chuck was glad. He wanted it to be uncomfortable. A comfortable Raphael might try to twist the truth or make excuses but Chuck understood that by keeping his son uneasy he would have a better chance of learning the truth. "What have you done?" he asked at last and Raphael looked down at the floor.

"I did what I saw was right," he snarled at last, turning hurt, angry eyes at his father.

"You did what you wished to," Chuck countered gently. "With no regard to the safety of others."

"I made a decision."

"You put your brothers in danger. You put all of creation in danger." Raphael was silent for a long time after that, his expression vaguely guilty. Chuck waited patiently for his son to sort out his feelings.

"You were gone," the archangel said at last. "And Lucifer and Michael and Gabriel and Samael. You were all gone and I was left alone." Raphael pulled in a shuddering breath and then broke, actively crying. "Don't You understand? I was left alone and I didn't want to be. I did what I did, all of this, to get You back." That was when Chuck stood, walking over and kneeled next to his son, placing a hand on his knee.

"I am sorry for all the pain this caused you," he said softly, Raphael's sobs calming as he listened. "But I needed to leave so that you and your siblings had a chance to grow up." That was when Chuck felt it, the agonizing scream of pain that told him one of his first set of children was close to death, and much sooner than he had expected. Chuck's eyes snapped shut and he rocked back on his heels. Silent and wracked with pain, he called his youngest of the initial set to him, pulling Samael's grace away mere seconds before he was extinguished.

\---

Raphael had seen many things since his father had left Heaven but never had he seen a being so broken. Samael was cradled gently in his father's arms, a barely flickering ball of light and pain. Chuck was whispering softly, trying to coax his little brother to hold on, and Raphael found himself wondering when they had all stopped caring for their younger siblings. Samael and countless others had been hurt by his actions, there was no denying that, and he simply hadn't cared. He had placed his idea of the greater good on a pedestal and ignored those that were harmed simply because they had to unfortunate luck to be the ones standing in the way.

Carefully he reached out toward his father, slightly surprised when his father silently handed over his little brother. "Take care of him," God said gently.

"And you?" Raphael asked, already reaching out with his grace towards his hurting younger sibling.

"I have business to attend to," his father replied. "I will return within twenty-four hours on this planet." Then God was gone before his son could respond.

"Typical," Raphael muttered to Sam, smiling slightly when the gleaming blob that was his little brother snuggled into his grace. The feelings passing from Sam into the healer were hazy and uncomprehending. Sam had been too badly hurt to truly understand what was going on or even take a form instead of simply existing as a ball of light. Instead he was simply reacting and Raphael was reassured that they hadn’t damaged his baby brother's trust so badly that he would instinctively attempt to flee. There was still some belief left in him that claimed Sam's older siblings would not harm him. "That's right little brother," he murmured, beginning to heal the damage his father hadn't gotten to. "You're safe now."

In the beginning, when their father was creating the heavens and the earth, he also created the archangels. Michael had come first. He was everything the firstborn son should be; a powerful, obedient warrior. It was not for nothing that Michael was often lauded as the good son but he was also the protector. Lucifer had been next. In fact, there was little time difference between Michael's creation and Lucifer's. The Morningstar was beautiful and proud, the epitome of the spoilt younger child. Gabriel had come next, his father's messenger. Gabriel had been lighthearted and fun loving even in the beginning. He would rather pull a laugh then allow his brother's to fight and that desire had often made him the peacemaker between his two older brothers. Raphael had followed right behind his brother, a healer created in a world that would all too soon require his skills.

The concept of days to God is different than that of days to any lesser beings so it was roughly a century between Raphael's creation and Samael's. God had created other angels; Balthazar, Adriel, Dumah, the Dominions who roamed the earth for centuries before the Adam and Eve fiasco, and Gadreel amongst them. Then Death came to visit. The Horseman was ancient, older than even the archangels, and perhaps the only one who could guess God's plans. Death said that he would need help to deal with the influx of deaths. God stated his intention to create Reapers to assist Death at which point the conversation became private. Raphael had not been privy to details but the end result had been Samael.

Raphael had not been particularly close to Sam. His little brother had been quite, self-contained, and shy around his older brothers. Lucifer and Michael had both managed to get close to Sam, which made their betrayals of his trust even worse in the long run, as had Balthazar and eventually Dumah during the battles with the Leviathans. Samael and Gabriel had vaguely orbited each other like planets revolving around a distant sun. Raphael and Sam had spent most their lives in different galaxies, to continue the metaphor. The only times their paths crossed was when Sam was injured. Then his little brother would shyly slink over and sit, quiet and still, until the healing was done. Raphael smiled slightly at the memories and sank down in a chair, cradling his little brother close.

\---

Chuck appeared in a deserted alley in time to see Alastair wiping his hands free of blood. "God I presume," the fallen angel turned torturer said calmly and Chuck nodded at him, amused that Alastair could so easily see what others had so often missed.

"Alastair," he replied. "I need to speak to you about Samael."

"Ah," the demon replied, trying to sound uncaring. The pinched look on his face told Chuck all he needed to know. Alastair had made it his duty to protect Sam and he took it as a personal failure that Lucifer had taken Sam, allowed another demon to torture him, and had ultimately allowed Sam's death.

"He is alive," Chuck admitted with a conspiratorial grin. Alastair's eyes narrowed and Chuck knew he had the fallen angel's full attention. "I need you to come with me."

"Why?"

"Because once Sam is fully healed he is going to need help and you are one of the few he trusts to help him, however tentatively. Furthermore I will need all my children to fix this," Chuck answered. He watched Alastair consider what he said for a moment and then nod.

"Fine. As long as you understand that I am doing this for Sam, not you."

"Of course," Chuck replied with a smile, reaching out and tapping Alastair lightly on the forehead.


	16. All Hail The Morningstar

Lucifer should have been exultant. With Samael eliminated a broken and reckless Michael would be coming after him, bent on vengeance. With his older brother an emotional train wreck it should have been child's play to win this war. Instead Lucifer was wallowing in his own cesspool of guilt. He had caused the death of his little brother. Lucifer had done everything he could to avoid killing Samael and yet it had still come to this. His baby brother dead under his own orders. He leaned against the railing at La Jolla that he had shoved Sam over, staring down at the crashing waves. A storm brewed above him, thick and angry and ready for blood. 

He was supposed to be in the middle east rallying War to his cause. He needed to be there if he wanted to stay on schedule. Instead he was moping. Footsteps smacked against the pavement and he turned to see Ansem approaching him. The demon had been one of Azazel's so called special children, like Gabriel who should have been his vessel and wasn't that ironic, but had been killed before the big showdown. "I expected it to be more difficult to find you," Ansem sneered as Lucifer schooled his expression.

"It will be," the Morningstar replied coolly. "I am going to search out War. You are too keep an eye on my brothers until I tell you otherwise." Anything to get this nasty creature who had attempted to kill one of his favorite brothers away from him. He vanished with a flutter of wings before the demon could try to protest; mostly because if he stayed around he would smite the pest and he still had need of that particular demon. He landed in the desert. 

Instantly his feet slid in the sand and he scowled absently at the blazing sun above him. He had never understood why father had insisted making a place so ridiculously hot. "Lucifer," a female voice purred and he turned to find himself confronted by a young woman with curly dark hair and equally dark eyes. She was dressed in rough leather armor with a knife strapped to her belt and a sword sheathed across her back. In one hand she held a glock as casually as if it were a child's toy. Her brown leather boots dug deep into the sand and her smile was a gleaming flash of a blade. "You've finally been freed."

"I have," he confirmed, bowing slightly because it did not pay to annoy War. It would only end his apocalypse. Not that he was entirely averse to the idea in his current state but he would appreciate keeping his wings.

"You are bringing about the End Times?"

"I am." War's smiled was absolutely bloody.

"Good. This planet has been boring for far too long."

"I have come to ask for your help," he said and that bloody smile widened. 

War leaned forward until her lips were brushing his ear and whisper, "And you shall have it." In between one blink and the next she was gone.

\---

Jake Talley had learned a lot in between killing Gabriel Novak, opening a gate to Hell in the middle of Wyoming, being shot by the same man he'd killed earlier, and descending to Hell. Now he was back topside in his own body watching as a demon called Ansem sauntered away from the coast line of La Jolla, California. Jake had been told all about the coming apocalypse and the end of the world but it wasn't something he stood for. Once he'd come topside, around the same time Lucifer had been freed, he'd searched for anyone willing to work towards stopping the end of the world.

Two weeks ago he'd finally found what he was searching for. He'd been sitting in a café in Minnesota when he'd been approached by a demon called Jessica. "What are you doing here?" she'd demanded. "There's nothing apocalypse worthy here."

"Exactly," he'd replied and she stared at him, puzzled. "I don't want anything to do with the apocalypse. Well, unless it has to do with stopping it and every demon I've met has been all too eager to start ending the world." Jessica had nodded, her expression contemplative.

"I'm avoiding it," she'd explained. "I have a friend who can't afford to lose any more of his close friends or he'll break. I can direct you to someone who might help though." Jake had leaned forward as she'd glanced around nervously before whispering in his ear, "There's a demon going by the name of Meg. Rumor has it she is working to stop all this."

Jake still hadn't found Meg but he had a feeling Ansem would do the work for him. All he had to do now was follow the other demon around. Sooner or later the chances that Ansem would run into Meg were high and Jake? He'd be there to take advantage of that fortunate little event. Besides, there was no love lost between he and Azazel's other special child anyway. A dry smirk on his face, Jake tracked Ansem with his eyes and pulled out his new cell to call Lily.

\---

Raphael was none too pleased when Dad returned with a demon to see Sam. The youngest archangel shifted, drifting more towards alertness with the new arrivals, and Raphael murmured reassuringly to him in Enochian until he settled again. The youngest archangel was healing well, Raphael working to repair old damages that had lingered for far too long. Damages that Samael had been unable to heal but that Raphael was more suited towards fixing. It still wouldn't be a perfect repairing of Sam's grace, only Dad could do that, but it was much better than it had been.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded when the demon appeared, his father joining them right after.

"We need Sam's body back," his father replied with a chuckle. "Seeing that Samael still is not in any condition to gain consent from his vessel for this century. Alastair knows where his vessel is." Raphael scowled but he couldn't argue with that kind of logic. Instead he cradled his little brother closer and kept a wary eye on the amused looking demon. "Alastair if you don't mind." The demon was already gone before Raphael's father could finish his sentence.

God reached out a hand toward Sam and Raphael turned so his father could inspect Sam, unusually reluctantly to hand over his burden. He had never been particularly close to Sam but the feel of his little brother's grace, warm against his own, was a comforting reminder that he wasn't alone. "He's healing well," Raphael admitted. "Considering the circumstances."

"Yes," their father agreed with a fond smile, hand brushing soothingly over Sam's gleaming form. "He is."

\---

Lucifer wasn't sure if he should be triumphant at having War on his side or afraid for his sanity. Already, since her quick trip to the United States, riots had broken out across California. The Devil himself was standing in front of a shop with its windows shattered and merchandise stolen. Broken glass crunched under his feet as he walked down the sidewalk. Somewhere behind him a car exploded as the previously slow burning fire reached the gas tank. He didn't bother to look back. War stood in the middle of the empty street waiting for him. Her expression was exultant and she was licking blood off the fingertips of her right hand in an almost absent minded motion.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked when he was only a few steps away, hands stretching out to motion at the chaos around her. Hours ago Lucifer would have immediately agreed with her but now he couldn't help but hear Samael's gentle accusations echo in his head. His little brother's voice telling him that he'd misunderstood everything; that he was wrong. It ruined the beauty of the situation.

It was ironic, really. Lucifer was on the path to get everything he ever wanted except he didn't want it anymore. He'd give it all up just to get his little brother back. Still it was too late for that. He'd just have to keep chugging along with the apocalypse as an attempt to commit suicide by Michael. Next stop India for Pestilence.


	17. Plagues and Pain

"He's recruited War." They'd been hovering in a daze of pain for almost twenty-four hours after their failure to save Sam but that simple statement from Gabriel shook them out of their stupor. Michael lunged to his feet, crossing the room in a second and grabbing Gabriel by the shirt collar.

"Are you sure?" he hissed in his brother's face.

"Look at this," Gabriel hissed back, shoving his older brother off him and thrusting a crumpled newspaper in his face. The headline blared; _CHAOS IN CALIFORNIA_. "There are riots, deadly riots, all across California. And they're spreading toward Nevada even as we speak. There's only one being that could cause all this chaos almost overnight."

"War," Michael confirmed, his expression dark.

"We can't stop her," Balthazar spoke up as Castiel shifted nervously. "So what do we do?"

"Lucifer will try to sway the other Horsemen to his side," Michael said, his voice cool and almost disinterested. "We need to convince them otherwise before he manages to get any more."

\---

The Ganges River was one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Thousands of people drank or bathed in its water and came out with deadly diseases. People had been trying to come up with a solution for the problem that was the Ganges for years. What they didn't know was that the river had received some help to get this way. A lot of help, actually.

Lucifer walked along the river's bank, scanning the crowd for the horseman he was searching for. At last he spotted him, a skinny balding man with a sharp, bright smile helping a woman out of the river. The archangel picked up his pace, slipping through the crowd like a hot knife through butter. As if sensing him, Pestilence looked up and fixed that sharp, merciless smile on him. "Morningstar," the horseman greeted and Lucifer growled at the title. The one he'd lost because of his own arrogance.

"Pestilence," he greeted sharply. "And it's Lucifer."

"Of course my lord," the horseman said with a bow. "War called ahead to say you were coming."

"And?" Lucifer demanded, trying not to show how little he wanted the apocalypse to happen now.

"I am yours to command my lord," Pestilence said with a bow, an oily smile on his face.

"Join your sister then," Lucifer ordered and when Pestilence vanished he barely held back the urge to break down and cry.

\---

The first horseman they were able to track down was Famine. She was slim, blonde, and beautiful. She was also working as a recovery counselor for teenagers who suffered from Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia. Needless to say, none of them recovered but the people kept pouring in anyway. She looked over them with shrewd eyes and then huffed irritably. "The first son and his followers," she said coldly. "How may I help you?"

"My brother is gathering the horseman," Michael replied calmly, Gabriel flanking him with Dean and Balthazar lurking behind. They had decided, to the angel's irritation, that it would be best if Castiel remained behind with Sam's body which they had retrieved a couple hours ago. "I hope that you will decide to deny the possibility of the apocalypse or, if you cannot do that, then side with Heaven."

"No," Famine said simply, turning back to her computer.

"Pardon?" Gabriel asked sharply, trying to step forward only to be stopped by Michael's hand across his chest.

"I will not side with Heaven," Famine said primly. "My brothers and I have spoken and already decided we have waited long enough. The apocalypse will happen."

"Then Father help you," Michael said coldly. "Because I will not." The oldest archangel stalked out and the others reluctantly followed him, Gabriel shooting a scathing glance in Famine's direction that she promptly ignored.

\---

By this point in time Lucifer really didn't think anyone should be able to surprise him anymore but a horseman he hadn't contacted yet showing up in the hotel room where War and Pestilence were already waiting for him would do it every time. Famine sat there in a neat black skirt and white blouse, looking around disdainfully as if the very state of the hotel room pained her. "Can I help you?" Lucifer asked with a pointed arch of his eyebrows and she turned a cold, professional gaze on him.

"I am here to assist with the apocalypse."

"I did not call you," Lucifer shot back. The very fact that Famine had gathered with the others was yet another sign that the apocalypse would move on full force with or without him. He had been hoping he would have more time before he was forced to stand in front of Michael and try his best to die.

"You were searching," Famine replied coolly. "I simply shortened the search. Now you only have to seek out Death and your victory is assured."

"But good luck with that," War chimed in, her voice bright and loud where her sister's was soft and cold. "None of us have seen him since Sodom and Gomorrah."

"He may come to us," Pestilence suggested, his voice hoarse and rough as if he had smoked a pack a day for the past four years. Lucifer didn't know the horseman well enough to know whether that was a safe assumption to make or not.

"Doubtful," Famine disagreed.

"Yeah," War agreed with her swordflash of a smile. "He never liked us much."

"He disapproved of our chosen course," Famine corrected in an icy tone. Lucifer didn't even bother trying to stop the impending fight. He had the beginning of a headache burning away in his skull, and angels didn't even get headaches for Dad's sake, and the sick feeling churning in his gut that told him that somewhere along the line something had gone fantastically wrong.

\---

Jake may have been actively searching out the anti-apocalypse side of the supernatural but it literally found Lily. She was standing at a gas station filling up the junker she'd bought for a pretty penny from an elderly man when a gaunt looking man with slicked back black hair and a dark coat walked up to her. "Lily Baker?" the man asked and she startled. She had taken back her old body after she and Jake had crawled out of Hell but she hadn't expected anyone to recognize her.

"Yes," she answered warily after a moment. "At least that's who I was." The man nodded, expression never changing.

"My name is Death, my dear, and we have places to be." Before Lily could even open her mouth to protest the man reached out to take her hand and they were gone, leaving the car and the gas pump alone with a very stunned attendant staring out the window.


	18. Rivers of Blood

When they returned from their failed attempt to sway Famine to their side Michael, Gabriel, Dean, and Balthazar appeared in the room only to find two demons and Castiel literally gaping at the spot Sam's body had been lying a moment ago. "Was that-" one began asking and Castiel nodded, looking dazed and confused.

"Yes," the youngest angel said. "I believe that was him."

"Did he say what I think he said?" the black man asked and Castiel nodded again. The white man scowled, turning his gaze between the two of them.

"Will one of you explain what the Hell is going on here?" he demanded and the demon wearing the black male turned with a cold smile towards the other.

"I don't know Ansem. Why don't you go back to your master and ask the Devil what's going on here?" The white male snarled, turning a dark gaze on the other who chuckled. "You know your powers don't touch me anymore. That's the great thing about having demon blood and going to Hell-it the flips all the switches all at once." Ansem snarled, lunging, but the black man tossed him casually off, not even bothering to utilize his demonic powers. Ansem landed next to Gabriel who seemed to shake off his stupor in time to smite the demon. The demon inside the black man took in that action with wide eyes and arched eyebrows. "Okay," he said at last. "That was different."

"What are you doing here Jake?" Gabriel demanded.

"Apparently the same thing as you," the remaining demon, Jake, shot back. "You see, I'm not too keen on the apocalypse that's trying to start and a demon named Jessica told me to look for another one named Meg. That's how I ended up here. Ansem was smart enough that he was cozying up to the Devil's side so I figured if I followed him long enough I'd run Meg or someone else against this whole mess."

"That is," Castiel spoke up. "Surprisingly reasonable."

"The only other thing the army was good for in my case," Jake said with a rueful smile and a shrug. "Logic and the ability to kill someone. Though apparently that doesn't prevent them from coming back."

"Next time it might be better to make sure they don't have a brother," Gabriel advised with exasperated humor. He probably should have been furious that the guy who stabbed him in the back when they were both still human was now a demon and had apparently tracked him down to join their side but he just didn't have the energy. Besides, Jake was surprisingly amusing when he didn't act like he had a stick up his ass. "So what just happened that had you all staring at where Sammy's body was?" he asked, fighting to keep his voice from cracking when he said Sammy. "And where is the body?"

"Alastair," Castiel said, as if that was all he needed to say.

"You're going to have to give us a little more than that to work with Cassie darling," Balthazar spoke up and Castiel let out a beleaguered sigh.

"Alastair took Meg and Sam's body, claiming that Sam was going to need it soon, and vanished," Castiel said very slowly, as if speaking to a small child. The angels gaped at Castiel, uncomprehending.

"Can you repeat that?" Dean asked at last.

"Alastair took Meg and Sam's body with him after claiming that Sam was going to need it, it being the body, soon," Castiel grated out, looking irritated. "Do not make me repeat it again."

\---

Lily found herself on the muddy bank of the Mississippi River. Or what should have been the Mississippi. Instead it was a river of blood flowing onward toward the Gulf of Mexico. She stared at it, uncomprehending. "Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood," a crackling voice said and Lily looked to her left to see the man who claimed to be Death standing next to her. "Revelation chapter sixteen verse four."

"What does that mean?" Lily asked hesitantly. 

"It means that most of Heaven is just as eager for the apocalypse to begin as Hell is," Death said. "Come. We have people we need to see."

\---

Alastair returned with Sam's current vessel in ten minutes. He also brought a second demon. This one was wearing a female with blonde hair. Her eyes widened comically before something that was almost relief flickered over her expression at the sight of Sam's true form still cradled in Raphael's arms. "He is alive," she breathed and Raphael couldn't mistake her tone for anything besides delight. She took a step forward and then stopped when Raphael bared his teeth at her and clutched Sam closer. "Relax," she drawled at him with a scowl. "I'm a friend. Right Sammy?" She addressed the last question at Sam's true form which had unfurled some at the sound of her voice. "You're ridiculously bright, you know that?" she informed him and Raphael blinked as the colored aura around Sam consciously changed from the golden color of his essence, the same essence that all archangels shared, to a strange mixture of red, pink, and yellow.

Meg blinked, looking taken aback, and Alastair snorted. "Are you _mocking_ me?" she asked after a moment but a true smile was curving about her lips. "You little annoying brat." Raphael could clearly feel Sam's amusement, the first nonfuzzy feeling the healer had gotten out of his little brother since Dad had dropped the injured bundle into his arms. There was also a vague sense of kinship that had Raphael puzzled as Alastair went to work on Sam's vessel, healing wounds with casual, impersonal touches.

"He _likes you_ ," Raphael said and the plain disgust and confusion in his voice made the she demon smirk at him.

"Course he does," she replied in a matter of fact tone. "Sam and I? We're friends."

"That's debatable," Alastair chimed in and the demon glanced over her shoulder to scowl at him. Raphael missed whatever came next because he was suddenly being flooded by wave after wave of confusion. It made sense if you stopped to think about it because the last time Sam had been fully aware he had also been tortured. Now he was wrapped up in the grace and borrowed arms of a brother who hadn't been particularly friendly the last time they'd run into each other.

"The body's fixed," Alastair announced in the sudden silence and Meg grinned when Raphael flinched slightly.

"Good," Chuck announced and made them all jump. The man, deity, whatever he wanted to be smiled in a way that said sometimes it was good to be God. "Raphael, if you don't mind…"

"Of course not," the healer said quickly, stepping forward to slip Samael into his body. For a moment nothing happened. Alastair and Raphael watched with silent intensity, Chuck simply smiled that mysterious smile that was so characteristic of him, and Meg chewed nervously on her bottom lip. Then Sam gasped, whole body jerking in panic and eyes wide. Meg was there before anyone else could even move, stroking her hands through his hair and cooing comfortingly at him. The most remarkable thing about the whole situation was that Sam did actually calm down, turning wide eyes to Meg.

"Meg," he gasped out. "What-? How-?"

"Calm down angel boy-"

And Raphael flinched when Sam mumbled, "Not an angel."

"You're safe, nowhere near Luci, and most of your family thinks you're dead," Meg continued on as if he hadn't spoken. "But, _surprise!_ , you're not."

"Obviously," Sam commented dryly and Meg honest to Dad giggled, looking pleased. She helped him up and he studied the group. He looked unsurprised at the presence of Meg and Alastair, mildly more shocked at seeing Raphael still there, and outright ashamed when he saw their father, shoulders hunching and chin dropping towards his chest. Instantly Meg slipped a protective arm around Sam's shoulders and set her jaw as if daring anyone to hurt him.

Chuck smiled gently, slipping a hand under Sam's chin and turning his face so they were looking at each other. "You have done well, my son," he said and got a shy smile in return.

"We must hurry," a new voice interrupted and they all turned to see Death standing in the doorway. "Zachariah has turned the rivers to blood." There was a demon standing next to Death wearing a young woman with blonde-brown hair.

"Lily?" Sam asked and she stared at him uncomprehending for a moment before her face lit up.

"Sam?" she asked. "The Sam I could touch without killing?" Sam nodded and suddenly she was lunging forward to wrap him into a tight hug, ignoring Meg's warning growl. Sam hugged her back gently, as if afraid of breaking her into thousands of tiny pieces. A moment later she pulled back, flashing an apologetic smile at Meg before stepping back to Death's side.

"Time is short," God agreed, turning to the watchers. "My children, I have work for you to do."


	19. The Return

They decided the only thing to could do was wait. Dean knew they had to assume that Alastair wasn't stark raving mad and wait to see what was going on. They couldn't really do anything else. Jake was trying to get into contact with someone named Lily that he and Gabriel seemed to know and Castiel seemed to know of. Judging by his increasingly irritated and worried expression he wasn't having any luck. A sudden shift in pressure drew their attention to the left and suddenly Death was standing in the room with a demon and a surprisingly living Sam standing beside him. Sam was swaying slightly on his feet, looking exhausted but happy to see them. The demon was hovering next to him, as if waiting to catch him if he feel.

Dean could only stare for a moment before lunging forward with a delighted cry, hugging Sam so hard he could swear he heard his little brother's ribs groan. Sam hugged him back just as tightly for a moment before carefully squirming free. "I'm okay," he reassured them. "Tired but alive. And Dad's back. By the way Cas, He says He's sorry for making you forget but it was necessary at the time."

Sam reached out a hand to brush the younger angel's forehead lightly. Castiel jerked, looking startled, and then nodded while the others shot him puzzled looks. "You're not staying, are you?" the youngest angel asked and Sam nodded. 

"Father needs Raphael and I to stop Zachariah and cut short Lucifer's little tantrum on earth," Sam replied.

"And us?" Michael questioned.

"You get Heaven," Sam replied and Gabriel groaned.

"Dad help us," the messenger grumbled. "This is going to suck."

"Complaining will not help anyone," Death said but Gabriel caught the flash of amusement in the horseman's eyes. "Time is short. Zachariah is already converting the water to blood."

"Good luck then," Michael said with a respectful dip of his head. "Come brothers. We have work to do."

\---

Meg liked Sam, really she did, but he had a tendency to come up with some of the stupidest, self-sacrificing plans she had ever heard of. Take this one for example. Alastair, Jake, and Lily had been dispatched to attempt to distract rampant horseman, with the assistance of Death. That wasn't the part of the plan she had problems with. No, she had problems with what came next. She and Sam were going to find Lucifer and Sam was going to confront his murderous older brother alone. True there was something different about Sam since he'd been healed by Raphael and _God_ of all beings. He seemed bright, stronger, more put together than she'd ever known him. More of an angel than she'd ever seen him.

Ironically, she thought to herself as she and Sam crept through an alley toward a wide open street where demons were already gathering, Sam was more of a brother to her than the one she'd had, maybe with the potential to be more than a brother if they lived long enough. She and Tom had been Nephilim, children of Azazel damned to Hell simply by virtue of being born, and for the longest time she'd been resentful of her lot. Then she'd found out what had happened to Sam. Needless to say, self-pity was a lot harder after that particular story.

"Ready to take on Lucifer?" she asked, looking at the angel who'd suffered so much already just to set things right.

"Yes," Sam replied calmly. "I am. Stay safe Meg."

"Oh I will," she told him with a reassuring smirk. "Trust me, they won't know what hit them."

\---

Gabriel hadn't been in Heaven for years so returning there with Michael, Dumah, Balthazar, and Castiel was strange, to say the least. What was even odder was that their father was actually standing at Heaven's gates waiting for them. "My children," God greeted them and he knew all of them were shocked by the pride in his eyes. "You have grown up well, all of you," he told them. "You did your best with the circumstances I left you with and for that I am proud of you."

Gabriel felt a stunned smile form on his face at that and knew the others weren't any less surprised. They had all made choices their father should be less than pleased with and yet here he was praising them. "Unfortunately the hardest work is yet to come," their father continued. "Heaven is in chaos and it will take a great deal of effort to set it right again."

"We are willing to do what must be done," Michael said and their father nodded.

"I know."

\---

Lily had known that taking down the three horseman on Lucifer's side would be difficult. Thus saying so, she had stepped into this whole mess with eyes wide open. Now, standing across from a widely smirking War, she was beginning to regret her decision. "You think you can beat me little girl?" War asked. "I was existing long before you were born."

"I don't doubt that," Lily replied as calmly as she could. Death had told her that staying calm was the key, that it would give them the opening they needed to get the ring. She was trying to believe that it was true. "You've probably seen nations rise and fall but have you ever seen someone you love die at your hands? Die simply because you dared to touch them?" Lily controlled the anguish building in her chest, but just barely.

"As if I would care to love anything," War replied scornfully. "The only things I love are the feelings of blood brushing across my skin and the chaos of war itself."

"Then I pity you," Lily said and War's lips curled away from neat white teeth in a snarl and she lunged forward. Lily stepped aside and suddenly Death was right there, catching War's wrist and slipping the ring from her finger. War's eyes widened and she stumbled for a moment before crumbling into dust. Lily gaped even as Death turned toward the ongoing debate between Jake and Famine. Alastair seemed unbothered by Pestilence's attempts to stop him. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe, for once, everything would go right.

\---

Sariel had been guarding this prison for millennia, ensuring that the serpent from the Garden never escaped to wreak havoc upon the unsuspecting world below. After so many years however, her resolve had begun to falter. Initially she had been promised someone to replace her after several centuries but when God left Heaven a replacement never came. That was when the serpent began to speak. He whispered in her ear, promises and regrets and wishes to return to home. Year after year the serpent's voice leaked into her thoughts until she began to waver. Until she began to doubt. Now he was simply biding his time, waiting for the proper moment to slip free and have his revenge. 


	20. Revelations

Lucifer was mildly surprised when demons started dropping like flies around him. Hosts crumpled to the ground in broken heaps, their souls already extinguished by demons eager to see their kind exterminated. A figure with blonde hair stepped into view, smirking as some of the demons sneered at her. Lucifer watched from the balcony above the street as she sauntered calmly into the center of the street. "Hello boys," she crooned. "Did you miss me?" They lunged at once, an uncoordinated and overeager movement, and the female demon moved to dispatch them with casual ease. Lucifer waited until she was finished before leaving the balcony and simply appearing before her. "Hello," she said with a cool smile. "Nice to finally see you in person angel boy."

"Sorry Meg," a new voice chimed in. "But this isn't your fight." The demon, Meg, stepped back, throwing a grin over her shoulder at Samael.

"He's all yours Sammy," she called as she sauntered off. "Knock 'im dead."

"Right," Sam shot back with a roll of his eyes. Lucifer was too busy staring at Sam to even consider stopping the demon from leaving.

"You... you're," Lucifer stuttered, truly stunned. "You're alive."

"Yeah," Sam replied with a rueful smile. "Thanks to Dad." It was all too much for the wayward archangel to process. First the brother he had thought he'd inadvertently killed was back alive and then he found out that Dad apparently was paying attention. He faltered, torn between anger that Dad had let everything go this far and flat out relieved that Sam _was alive_. His legs crumpled under him and Sam lunged forward, eyes wide, as Lucifer tumbled to the ground.

\---

Zachariah had made it to Lake Superior when Raphael caught up to him. The arrogant twit of an angel was wearing an older bald man with a thick chest and broad shoulders. He was kneeling, reaching out a hand toward the mostly peaceful waters of the lake, when Raphael caught the wrist and literally lifted the angel off the ground. He tossed Zachariah back and planted himself firmly between the angel and the water lapping behind him. Zachariah rose slowly, face twisted into a sneer. "Trying to stop the apocalypse you started?" he questioned. "That's a little pathetic, don't you think?"

"Father has commanded this," Raphael replied coldly, trying not to let himself rise to the bait. "Either you will desist in your actions or I will eliminate you."

"You can try," Zachariah replied with a sneer, sword already in hand. Raphael let out a heavy sigh and called his own, regret already course through his borrowed veins for all the damage he had, and continued to, cause. Their blades clashed sharply together, the metal singing an ancient and bloody song that could only end in death. Zachariah gritted borrowed teeth and struggled against the tremendous strength of an archangel.

"Why must you do this?" Raphael asked as they pulled apart. "Why must you defy our father?"

"Our father abandoned us," Zacharaiah snarled. "He left us alone as if we were trash. Why should I bow to him now that he believes he needs to fix us?" Raphael's eyes narrowed and his blade flashed. Zachariah barely blocked and stumbled back toward the bloody water lapping against the bank behind him.

"I am truly sorry you feel that way," Raphael said, eyes piercing his brother coldly. "Because that means I have to do this." Faster than Zachariah was every capable of blocking he lunged forward, sword sinking through the angel's borrowed skin into his very essence. Then there was a blaze of light and Zachariah was no more.

\---

"Lucifer? _Lucifer_!" Sam's voice sounded young and frantic in his ears. He struggled to focus, to push past the all-consuming feeling of relief that was pouring over him in waves. It was over. Dad was back, his by now unwanted apocalypse was coming apart at the seams, and it was over.

"It's over," he managed to get out as he became aware of Sam's arms wrapped tightly around him. He could feel the vibrations in his little brother's chest as Sam chuckled weakly at that.

"Yeah Luce, it's over," his little brother agreed. "As long as you let it be."

"I killed you," Lucifer whispered into Sam's shoulder, clinging tightly to the younger archangel, tight enough that it was probably hurting his little brother a bit. He knew he probably wasn't making much sense but after years of feeling only resentment and betrayal the feeling of relief had blindsided him. "You were dead and it was all my fault and there was nothing _left_." Sam's breath hitched in his ear as Lucifer struggled to explain. "It wasn't worth it," he whispered at last and heard Sam sigh, felt the tension leaking out of his little brother. 

"It's going to be okay now," Sam said softly. "We're going to fix this."

\---

Zachariah was dead. It was regrettable that this had also resulted in the host dying but Raphael had been left with no alternative and the man's soul would ascend to Heaven. It wouldn't soften the blow to whatever family the vessel had left but it was the best the archangel could do. His head tilted back slightly as the call came and relaxed his grace, allowing himself to be summoned back to Heaven. A Heaven that was in considerable turmoil.

Gabriel was waiting for him at the gates, face pale and angry. "What is it?" Raphael demanded, sword in hand as he searched for the danger. He might not have been particularly close to his siblings but seeing them afraid of anything triggered deeply buried protective instincts. 

"It's Gadreel," Gabriel answered, trembling slightly at the very name. "The serpent has escaped his cage."


	21. The Leviathans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter here! I have another side story after this that I can throw in the gap between this story and the first posting of the next one on Friday that will have about three chapters, one post per day starting some time today. The last main story, Wolves At The Door, will be posted on Friday.

Before the Earth was fully formed, God created the Leviathans. At first they seemed as pure as the archangels that followed them but the creatures quickly grew jealous of their father's newest children. They became destructive but God gave them a second chance, allowing them to become guardians of Heaven. Instead of using this second chance to redeem themselves they took advantage of their position to massacre many of the fledgling angels. It was then that God formed Purgatory, called monster Hell by some, and locked the Leviathans away, declaring them too dangerous to roam free. It was these monsters that Gadreel intended to set free.

He stood at the open gate to Purgatory, a cruel smile on borrowed lips as he watched the creatures emerging from the mist beyond the watery light of the opening. They looked like something out of a childhood monster, things that oozed rather than walked. They were made almost entirely out of black goo with wide, insane looking eyes and rows of needle thin jagged teeth. The rows went back in back in the mouth, like a shark's. The first one hesitated at the gate, studying Gadreel and tilting its head slightly as if it didn't understand why the angel was there.

"We are free?" it questioned at last.

"Of course," Gadreel replied, smirking and spreading his arms to show the world behind him. "Come out and take your revenge as you will. The world awaits you." The Leviathan considered that, its brethren lurking behind it as they waited for a final decisions. Gadreel waited as well. He had known the Leviathans were clever; their very history denoted that.

"Why do you seek to free us?" it questioned.

"Because I wish to see my father suffer," he returned. "The end times have been cut off. God has taken Lucifer, the prodigal son, back into the fold despite all the destruction he caused yet I only tempted Eve in the Garden and he sentenced me to punishment for all eternity with no respite. I have opened a door between your home and this world because this is his most precious creation. He adores His creations here and nothing will cause Him more pain than you spreading destruction and pain and fear across this planet."

The Leviathan smiled at that and Gadreel fought down a shudder at the sight of those deadly teeth. Then it turned to look at the other creatures behind it. "Come brothers and sisters," it hissed. "Today we gain our revenge."


End file.
